


Irreconcilable Differences

by Tye



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: (Some of whom aren't actually dead - looking at you Ana.), (as of writing this - I'll bet you 5 dollars and a stick of gum Blizz will mess it up eventually), (mostly angst tbh), Angst with a Hopeful Ending, Canon Compliant, Divorce, Established Relationship, Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Marriage, Pre-Canon, Pre-Fall of Overwatch, Pre-Recall, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-12-05 19:21:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 28,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11584539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tye/pseuds/Tye
Summary: Gabe and Jack were married on a rainy morning in June. It's raining again 25 years later the night they file for divorce.(A look back on the marriage of Gabriel Reyes and John Morrison.)





	1. Summons

**Author's Note:**

> So I guess the big inspiration behind this was 'I can't find the fic I want to read so I guess I gotta write it myself.'
> 
> But really though, there's lots of fics of younger Jack and Gabriel falling in love for the first time, lots of fics of older Jack and Gabriel reconciling and falling back in love, but there isn't a whole lot focusing on the messy, middle, in-between. And, I dunno, maybe it's not the most fun, happy, pleasant thing to try and write about, but it's still a huge, important, defining part of their relationship. 
> 
> Wow, that was a rant.
> 
> Anyway, all of the chapters (except for the first and last) are based on segments of the real Indiana divorce form. [ Here's a link to the one I mockingly filled out with Jack and Gabriel's info. ](https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_EBiG5VO5XIVnpRWkdORWs5T1E/view?usp=sharing)
> 
> BIG kudos go out to my beta Anakin, who was an amazing help as I wrote this! This fic would not be as good without their input. Also shout out to the r76 big bang discord for the oodles of encouragement!
> 
> [Petitecreme](https://petitecreme.tumblr.com/post/163342309892/illustration-that-accompanies-tyes-story-with) and [Ike-mama](http://ike-mama.tumblr.com/post/163311760532/for-the-r76-big-bang-gabo-wants-a-sappy-marriage) both made some truly beautiful art to go along with the fic! Go check it out!

When Blackwatch was suspended Gabriel Reyes was out of a position, but not out of a job.  He wasn’t put on leave, or fired, the suits in charge just needed to find him something official to do.  Sitting in his office and picking at the dirt underneath his nails wasn’t an option.  Since the terms of the suspension didn’t permit him to do field work, he was demoted to head trainer.  Now he’s the full-time drill sergeant and baby sitter for each fresh batch of Overwatch recruits.

Gabriel studies his newest class from the observatory room above the shooting range.  There’s 12 of them, not counting the handful that quit in the first week.  Each has a different specialty and hails from a different part of the globe.  All bright-eyed and hopeful, eager to make the world a safer place.  All under the age of 25.

All leaving some skill to be desired.  Most of their bullets hit the mark, but some, too many in his opinion, miss by a few inches.  He can see the moment’s hesitation between aiming and firing.  Their reaction times are a fraction of a second too slow.  They’re sloppy.  So, so sloppy.  He misses the days when Overwatch could be as choosy and exclusive as they wanted to be.  Now, given their penchant for PR blunders and royally fucking things up, they’re lucky anyone still wants to risk their necks for them. 

Gabriel yawns, stretches his arms up in the air, and glances up at the clock on the wall.  He grimaces.  He’s run long with the recruits. Again.

Not that he cares.  And not that they mind.  Sometimes he has to order them to bed because they want to keep going all night.  But Petras isn’t going to be pleased when he finds out.  Gabriel’s already behind on all the tasks he’s ordered him to do.  His unconscious desire to procrastinate is stronger than Petras’ threats to put him on permanent desk duty unless he gets his priorities straight.  If he’s here training the recruits he’s not in his office sloshing through resumes, searching for someone to fill the impossibly fillable hole Ana left behind.

“That’s enough for tonight.”  Gabriel’s voice booms over the intercom.  All activity ceases, and every eye in the room looks straight up at him.  “Report back tomorrow at 0800 hours for your next training exercise.”

Below there’s shuffling and idle chatter as the recruits pack up to leave.  They move slowly, if at all, seeming more interested in conversing than anything else.  Gabriel jots down notes on his clipboard.  Weaknesses he noticed, and things to work on during their morning session.  It doesn’t take long for the page to be so marked up he has to start a fresh one.

“How are they lookin’ Boss?” Jesse’s voice calls out from behind him.  Gabriel turns around to see him leaning his forearm idly on the doorframe.  The brim of his stupid hat takes up half the doorway, casting his face in shadow.

Gabriel sets down his clipboard and shrugs at him.  “Not completely hopeless.  With some training they might end up being halfway decent.”

Jesse laughs. Gabriel listens as his spurs jingle-jangle as he saunters over to his side.  “I saw you drilling them on the obstacle course yesterday.  They’re not bad.  Better than me when I first started anyway.”

Gabriel snorts. “That’s not really saying much.”

“Hey!” Jesse pouts at him, putting his hands on his hips.

Gabriel rolls his eyes.  “Fine, fine.  You had some skill, but you also had a shitty attitude and it took you a while to actually want to improve.”

Gabriel looks him over and notices the frayed, beige messenger bag at his hip.  A thick, leather strap crosses around his shoulder and over his torso.  It’s his travel bag, he recalls.  And he remembers the covert job - gathering intel on Doomfist’s whereabouts- that he tasked to him that afternoon.

“What are you doing here?  Shouldn’t you be on your way to Numbani by now?”

Jesse holds up his hands defensively.  “I know, I know.  I just have one quick errand to run first.” 

“And what’s that?”

Jesse zips open his bag and fishes out a manila envelope from inside.  He holds it out for him to grab, leaving just a few inches space between it and his body.  “Commander Morrison wanted me to give this to you.”

Gabriel frowns down at the envelope, then backup at Jesse.  “What?  Jack can’t deliver his own mail?”

Jesse winces at the ice in his voice.  “Uh… you should probably read it first.”

Still glaring, Gabriel snatches the envelope out of his hand.  It’s feather light, and looks thin enough to be empty.  He shakes it gently, just to make sure there’s something inside.  The front is suspiciously void of any markings.  No bright red ‘Top Secret’ or ‘Classified’ like he’s grown accustomed to seeing on mail from Jack.  The Overwatch Insignia, which is supposed to be printed in the top right corner of all official mail sent and received between agents, is also missing.  The only distinguishing mark is his own name, _Gabe_ , written in blue ink with Jack’s neat, rigid handwriting.

Gabriel wants to take the envelope back to his office and chuck it into his mountain of papers to look at later.  _Much_ later.  He’s about to tuck it under his arm when Jesse gives him a sheepish head nod, egging him to open it.  Gabriel sighs, undoes the tiny brass fastening, and pulls out the documents to see what’s so important that it has to be dealt with now.  His attention is immediately drawn to the big, bold word in official print at the top of the page.

**Summons**

_“You have been sued by your spouse for dissolution of your marriage. The case is pending in the Court named above.”_

Gabriel’s eyes glaze over the rest of the paper.  It’s just more fine print explaining what he just got delivered and what to expect going forward, as if he needs an explanation. He purses his lips and feels his heart rate increase and his head spin as he tries to make sense of the jargon.  It’s so formal and polite.  Why does it have to be embellished with fancy words and legalese?  Dissolution of Marriage?  Why not be blunt and call it what it really is, a divorce?

“I imagine you know what this is?”  He says to Jesse.  He sighs softly to himself, and pinches the bridge of his nose. 

Jesse nods timidly. “Commander Morrison briefed me.  When I get back I gotta sign some papers myself confirming that I, y’know, served you.” He bites his lip, and shoots him a soft, sympathetic expression.  “Sorry.”

Gabriel furrows his brows.  “For what?”

He shrugs.  “I dunno. For your divorce, I guess?  I know you two broke up ages ago, but still, it must suck having all this dragged back up again.”

“Don’t be sorry.” Gabriel says flatly.  He looks back down at the papers, as if staring at the words longer will force them to make sense. 

Jesse smiles and laughs unsurely. “I uh... was kinda surprised when Commander Morrison asked me to do this for him.  I figured you guys took care of this stuff already.”

There’s a pause in the conversation.  It’s Gabriel’s turn to respond- except he doesn’t have anything to say.  There’s not any explanation to give.  Instead he busies himself with stuffing the papers back into the envelope.  After a silent moment passes Jesse guffaws and elbows him lightly, playfully, on the side. 

“It’s just like you to put off dealing with lawyers for as long as humanly possible, huh?”

Gabriel snorts out a harsh laugh.  Yeah, that’s why they put off the divorce.  That’s why they’ve left their marriage hanging unfinished and in separation limbo for five years.  Miserable together, long past trying to mend things, but still reluctant to let go.  It’s all because he dislikes lawyers.

They both turn their attention back to the training area, watching as the recruits continue to make their exit.  Most are _still_ lingering to socialize, talking animatedly among themselves.  Conversations lost on him because he’s too far away to hear.  Gabriel thinks about making an announcement ordering them to clear out, but has a change of heart as he reaches for the intercom mic.  What does he care if they stay to chat?

“I was talking to ‘em yesterday.” Jesse says after a moment passes.  “After you finished with ‘em on the obstacle course.”

“You weren’t scaring them off were you?” Gabriel asks, wary. “I don’t need any more dropouts.”

He chuckles.  “Nah, I wouldn’t do that.  They were just asking me about some rumor goin’ around about you and Commander Morrison. They wanted to know if it was true that you two were married once.”

“Hmm.” He says, pointedly not looking at him and trying his best to sound uninterested.

“A couple of ‘em believe it.  Couple more are skeptical.  The rest all think we’re fucking with ‘em.”

“And what did you tell them?” He asks.

“I told ‘em they should try asking you and see what you’d say.  Doesn’t sound like any of ‘em took the bait.”

“Nope.” He says, shaking his head and popping out the p.

Jesse turns to study him.  “What would you tell ‘em though, if they did ask?”

He’s quiet for a moment.  He scratches his chin and shrugs his shoulders.  “The truth I guess. Not like it’s anything worth hiding.”

A satisfied smile stretches across Jesse’s face.  He nods at him. “Hey, I gotta run.  Like you said, I have a plane to catch.” The smile dissipates as his face turns serious.  “If uh… you want to talk or anything...”

Gabriel rolls his eyes.  “I’m fine.  You get on out of here.  I’ll contact you in the morning with further instructions.”

“Yessir.” He gives him a tiny salute before jingle-jangling out the doorway and down the hall.

The walk back to his office feels longer than Gabriel remembers.  His feet are slow and sluggish as he winds his way through the corridors.  The envelope under his arm weighs him down. 

His mind is drawn to a memory from decades ago. Back when he and Jack were happier.   Their marriage in a better, healthier place.  Bored and restless on a long flight to Beijing, Gabriel opened up his holopad to Jack’s Wikipedia page.  As Jack watched from the seat next to him, Gabriel edited his Personal Life section to say that “Jack Morrison married Gabriel Reyes during the Omnic Crisis in a secret moonlight ceremony.” 

Jack couldn’t keep his face straight as he told him off for it.  Laughter kept finding ways to bubble out of him, until he stopped trying to suppress it and let it take over.  The two of them howled with laughter until their stomachs ached and happy tears formed in the corners of their eyes.

Five minutes later the change got removed for “unverifiable claims and possible vandalism”.  Gabriel just chuckled and rolled his eyes, knowing that this would happen.  But Jack stared at the screen blankly with a doe-eyed look of pure sadness.  Gabriel stroked his hair, and started to tell him, _it’s okay_.  Before he could get the words out Jack took his face in his hands and pulled him into a soft, passionate kiss.

Now they’ve grown so distant the idea of them ever being married is the punch line to an unfunny joke.  Something nobody would ever believe because it sounds made up.  Even the people there to see it wonder if it was real or only something they imagined, since their memories are in such stark contrast to what’s playing out in the present.

Sometimes even he forgets that they were married once. Are _still_ married, though not for much longer it seems.  Gabriel’s not sure if this bothers him or saddens him or what, but his hands balled into tight fists tell him he’s not apathetic to it like the last time.

When Gabriel flips the lights on in his office he’s greeted with a fresh stack of papers strategically placed smack dab in the center of his desk.  Resumes, he sees when he plops down into his chair.  There’s a sticky note on top in Petras’ writing saying ‘ _REYES:  REVIEW THESE ASAP!’_   One of the not-so-subtle hints he’s been dropping that if he and Jack don’t find a replacement for Ana soon he’s going to delegate the task to himself.

Instead Gabriel shoves the stack of resumes aside, knocking them off his desk completely, and empties the manila envelope to look at the documents once again.  Behind the big, bold Summons there’s more paperwork.  A copy of the papers Jack’s already completed, his “Verified Petition for Dissolution of Marriage”.  And there’s a blank copy of the same form, presumably for him to fill out. 

Gabriel digs through his desk drawer to find a pen.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is filled with my own headcanons and *incredibly* self-indulgent. But I'm a creature who feeds on praise, so if you like it let me know, yeah?


	2. Petitioner and Respondent Were Married on June 11, 2045

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The year is based on the game being set in 2076. Idek what year it is in the game or how the timeline even works, but I wanted to use actual years to show that time has passed, and to make it look official.

“It looks like it’s going to be another rainy day here in Fort Lauderdale.  Better grab your umbrellas folks!  But make sure they’re sturdy because wind speeds are expected to reach-”

Gabriel flips to the next channel before the overly-chipper weatherperson can finish her sentence.  He could figure out her forecast just as easily by looking out his hotel window.   He sighs.  How can anybody be so excited about rain?  How can anybody be excited about _anything_ during the deadliest conflict in recorded history?

Gabriel bites into another spoonful of cereal (which tastes like processed cardboard thanks to the sugar rations), and stares out at the rain.  He can hear it tapping rhythmically against the glass windowpane.  The sky is painted a dull, dreary grey that sucks out all the colors from the surrounding buildings.  The palm trees lining the street look like they’re about to blow over, and the few people outside are walking with their arms guarding their face, bracing themselves from the storm.

“The weatherperson says the rain’s ‘sposed to keep up all day.” Gabriel shouts to Jack, who’s shaving in the vanity area on the other side of the room.  Over the rain and the TV Gabriel can hear his razor skitting across his skin.

“What’s that Sweetie?” Jack shouts back to him. “I can’t understand you with your mouth full.”

Gabriel swallows his bland, sugarless cereal and shouts a little louder for good measure.  “I said this crappy weather’s supposed to keep up all day.”

Jack lets out a groan.  “Damn it.  Our only week of leave for the entire year and it pours the whole time.”

“I know right?  What’d we do to get such rotten luck?”

“Luck?” Jack drops his voice low to a deep, gravelly imitation of their SEP commander.  “Don’t let me catch you using that bullshit word again.  Listen up soldier because I’m only going to say this once-”

“There’s no such thing as luck, just good genetics.” They round out together and share identical laughter, temporarily drowning out the storm.

“So, what do you want to do now, since the beach obviously isn’t an option?” Gabriel asks.  He flips off the TV, there’s nothing on worth watching anyway.  “I’ve heard good things about the hotel spa.   Ana keeps saying we need to relax more.”

Jack pokes his head around the wall that separates the vanity from the rest of the room.  Half of his face is covered in shaving cream, and he still hasn’t combed out his bedhead.  Locks of golden blond hair stick up in every direction.  That combined with the mischievous gleam in his eyes make him look like a wild man.

“Let’s get married.”

Gabriel’s eyes widen, and he suddenly forgets how to breathe.  This must be what it feels like to have a heart attack.  He sputters, spewing half-chewed bits of cereal onto his t-shirt, and he nearly spills the bowl he has balanced on his stomach onto the bed.

“I’m sorry, _what_ did you just say?”

Jack smirks at him.  “You heard me.  The courthouse is just a couple blocks away.”

Gabriel laughs uncertainly.  He puts his bowl of cereal on the night stand, gets out of bed, and begins to pace around the room.  The carpet feels coarse under his bare feet, and he wishes his pajama bottoms had pockets he could stick his hands into.

“You’re being serious?” Gabriel asks.

“Completely.”

“You want to get married?”

“Yup.”

“Today?”

“Yup.”

Gabriel exhales.  “I don’t- I can’t- this is crazy!  We can’t just get married!”

“Why not?” Jack steps out from behind the wall into his line of sight and puts his hands on his hips.  He wishes he were wearing more than just a bath towel around his waist. 

Gabriel opens his mouth to speak, then closes it, unsure of exactly how to translate the thoughts swirling around his mind into words.  He feels like he’s being pulled in a thousand different directions. 

They’d talked about marriage before, plenty of times.  They’d agreed they both wanted to do it eventually.  Just not right now, with the world in its current state of upheaval.  They didn’t want their love story to be rushed by circumstance.  They knew too many people who hastily said their ‘I dos’ because they were scared they wouldn’t live to see tomorrow.  Some of them didn’t. 

Jack places a sturdy, gentle hand on Gabriel’s shoulder.  He stops pacing, stops moving, almost stops breathing altogether.  Jack slides his hand down his arm, past his elbow to his wrist. He didn’t even realize his hands were shaking until Jack takes them in his own.

“Hey, I won’t be upset if you aren’t ready yet.  I’m not going anywhere.  I’ll wait until we’re crotchety old men to get married if that’s what you want.”

“I was thinking a little bit sooner than that.” Gabriel chuckles and licks his lips. “I just- I thought we’d plan this out more.  I thought we’d have a real, formal wedding.  Not elope at some courthouse.”

He laughs.  “Aren’t you the one who always says you’d rather elope so your sister doesn’t make a huge spectacle out of our wedding?”

Gabriel smiles.  He had said that.  A couple of times.  But he’d always meant it as a joke.  Though now that he really lets himself think about it, the idea does have a certain appeal.  He loves Jack more than anything.  Wants to marry him more than anything.  It’s not their fault the world is at war.  Why should they let that stop them from being happy? 

Gabriel flashes Jack a devious look. 

“Okay, I’ll marry you.  But only under one condition.”

Jack grins crookedly. “What’s that?”

Gabriel smirks at him.  “You have to propose to me first.  _Properly_ propose.  Y’know, get down on one knee, pull a ring box out of your pocket, deliver a heartfelt monologue that makes me cry.  All that sappy romantic shit you love so much.”

Jack chuckles.  Laughter lines form in the corners of his eyes.   “You drive a hard bargain Gabe.  But I’ll do it.” He leans in to kiss him on the cheek, but stops short, seemingly remembering the shaving cream lathered on half his face.  He looks down at his state of undress. “Just uh… let me put some clothes on first.”

Gabriel is content to stay in bed channel flipping until Jack returns with a ring.  But he kicks him out of the room, telling him to take that spa trip he mentioned earlier.  When Gabriel presses him as to why he just grins devilishly and says nothing. 

Gabriel is told by the lobby receptionist, an elderly woman who smells like mothballs, that the spa has been temporarily closed because, _Jesus Christ don’t you know there’s a war on?  How could you even think about mud masks and seaweed wraps during a time like this?_   But that’s all the better for him because he’s antsy as hell and can’t stop moving.  He doubts he’d be able to lie still while some stranger rubbed circles into his body anyway. 

He instead finds himself drawn to the hotel gym. A tiny, circular room with seashell wallpaper that’s peeling away at the edges.  There’s some cardio equipment, a wall of dumbbells, and a small TV that’s mounted to the wall.  He can’t find the TV remote, and the weights feel like nothing to him, so he passes the time jumping between the stationary bike and treadmill. He has to actively stop himself from grinning like an idiot because he can’t stop thinking about Jack.  Eventually he gives up trying, and beams brightly while he exercises away.

The do not disturb sign hangs on his door when he arrives back two hours later.  He snorts.  It’s a little on the nose, he thinks.  He can’t remember if he left it there this morning, or if Jack put it there when he got back.

Gabriel knocks. “Jack, you in there?”  He asks, even though he can hear muffled footsteps through the door.

“Come in.” Jack calls.

When he opens the door his nose is assaulted with the scent of flowers. It’s powerful enough to make his eyes water and he almost gags out loud.  A pathway of pink and red rose petals leads from the front entryway to the bed, which is covered in even more of those petals.

“It smells like a flower shop threw up in here.”

Jack laughs at him.  “Hey, you said you wanted it to be romantic.”

Gabriel follows the rose petal path over to Jack, who stands in front of their bed holding two flutes of champagne.  Two bottles in a bucket of ice sit on top of the dresser.  The sleeves of Jack’s button down shirt are rolled up to his elbows and the top few buttons are undone.  His hair is still damp from the rain. When Gabriel’s close enough he hands him one of the flutes.

“Where did you get all these roses from anyway?  I thought the Crisis kinda put a damper on flower production.”  Gabriel asks him and picks up a red rose petal from the ground.  He raises an eyebrow at the feel of glossy, artificial fabric between his fingers.

Jack bites his lip.  “A craft store.  I looked all over for real roses, but I couldn’t find any.”

Gabriel sniffs the air, getting another whiff of that awful floral scent. “What is this I’m smelling?”

Jack hesitates a moment. “Air freshener.”

Gabriel snorts, and his body doubles over with laughter.  He has to put down his flute of champagne to keep from spilling it.  Before long, he hears Jack joining in too.

“Well I hope the champagne is real.” He says once he’s got his hysterics under control.

“It better be for the price I paid.” Jack grins.  They clink glasses and take a sip together.  Gabriel enjoys the bubbly sensation on his tongue. 

“So is there something you wanted to ask me?”

Jack nods.  “What do you think of this shirt?  Because I like the color but I’m not sure on the material.  It feels really thin and-”

“Jack.” Gabriel sing-songs and rolls his eyes.

“I know, I know I’m getting there.  Geez, and you call me the impatient one.” Jack says and puts his flute down on the dresser next to him.  He takes a breath and looks him square in the eyes. “You know what my first thought about you was when we met all those years ago?”

Gabriel shrugs.  “Uh… I dunno?  Something about my ass being a gift from God?”

He laughs. “No, but that was probably one of the first.  My actual first thought was that you were someone I wanted to have my back when times got tough.  Without knowing you, I knew that I could trust you.”

“Wow, blindly trusting someone you don’t know?  That doesn’t sound very smart Jack.”

“Shut up.  You’re killing the mood.” He laughs, and pushes his shoulder playfully. “I decided to trust my gut and got to know you, and it was probably the best decision I ever made. I became your friend.  Became your boyfriend.  Fell completely head-over-heels in love with you.  Gabe, there’s nobody I trust more than you, and nobody else I’d rather have by my side.  In good times and bad.”

Jack runs his hand through his hair and smiles that nervous little half smirk that even after being together so long still makes Gabriel want to pass out.  Because wow, he’s so incredibly beautiful.

“I can’t even put into words how much I adore you Gabe.  Sometimes I look at you and I stop breathing because I feel this wave of pure elation wash over me.  Like, I’m the luckiest guy in the world because I get to wake up next to you every morning.  You’re amazing, you know that?  And there’s nothing more I want than to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Jack swallows hard, his Adam’s apple bobs up and down.  Slowly, he kneels down in front of him and pulls a small, black box out from his back pocket.  He offers it up to him. Gabriel’s heart feels like it’s going to beat out of his chest.

“Gabriel Reyes, will you marry me?”

Gabriel’s throat clenches up and he can feel tears welling in his eyes.  All the while a grin spreads across his face that’s so massive it hurts.  He chokes back a sob, clearing his throat so he can speak. “Goddamn it Jack when I said make me cry I didn’t actually mean it.”

“Is that a yes?” Jack stares up at him with a smile so bright it could light up the dark. 

“Yes.”  He breathes, and he stops holding back his tears.  They flow warm and fast down his cheeks.

Jack takes his trembling hand and gently slides the ring onto his finger.  It’s a thick golden band inlaid with glossy, chestnut wood.  Gabriel only has a moment to admire it in the dim light, as a moment later Jack’s lips crash into his.  Gabriel closes his eyes and leans into the kiss, tasting champagne on Jack’s tongue and breathing in the scent of fresh rain on his skin.

They don’t get married that day.  Instead they spend it swimming in sheets, limbs tangled together, bare skin touching bare skin.  They lie together in a hazy euphoria, giddy and drunk on champagne and each other.

The next morning Gabriel’s head buzzes lightly, and his lips are rough and chapped, but he and Jack float on air as they rush to the courthouse hand-in-hand to get their marriage license before they have to report back to base.  They almost miss their flight out as Gabriel stops at a duty free store in the airport to buy a pack of spearmint gum and a wedding ring.  A swirling vine pattern engraved along the outside, and bright shiny gold almost matches that of his own ring.

It was a hasty purchase, not chosen with care like Jack’s ring for him was.  Gabriel’s sure the gold is going to turn his finger green.  He tells Jack it’s temporary.  He promises to pick out something better when there’s more time.  He tells Jack it’s temporary. He promises pick out something better when there’s more time. But Jack nuzzles the crook of his neck and whispers in his ear.

“Don’t bother. It’s perfect.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ike-mama drew some amazing art to go along with this chapter [ go check it out here! ](http://ike-mama.tumblr.com/post/163311760532/for-the-r76-big-bang-gabo-wants-a-sappy-marriage)


	3. Petitioner and Respondent Were Separated on January 27, 2065

Gabriel owns only one suitcase, a large, camouflage bag from his army days.  It’s lasted nearly three decades thanks to its sturdiness, and he anticipates it will hold for the rest of his life.  He keeps it in the back of his closet in his civilian home in Colorado, tucked away behind a shoe rack and some dusty old boxes.  He hasn’t had need for it in years.

Last week his sister called him in near hysterics and told him she’s having surgery to remove her gallbladder.  She asked him to come to LA and help her out while she recovers. Gabriel has enough medical knowledge to know that gallbladder removal is an extremely safe, extremely routine procedure, and he knows Micaela well enough to know she’s crying crocodile tears just to trick him into visiting.  But he agrees to go anyway. As exasperating as his sister can be sometimes, he loves her too much to say no to her. 

Besides, he could seriously use a vacation.

Gabriel goes through his wardrobe piece by piece as he packs his bag, sorting out what belongs to him and what doesn’t.  He and Jack are nearly the same size, and after being together so long all their clothes have blended together.  Everything they own has blended together really.  It’s an impossible chore to untangle it all and decipher what’s _his_ and not _theirs_.

He holds up a pair of navy blue Overwatch sweatpants. It takes him just a second to determine they’re Jack’s. Definitely Jack’s.  Gabriel folds them back up and sticks them in the drawer.  He doesn’t even have to unfold the LA Lakers t-shirt to know it’s his, and he packs it straightaway into his bag. He holds up a novelty guitar-print tie and cringes.  It’s his alright, but it’s absolutely hideous so he opts to leave it behind. 

Gabriel picks up and unfolds a crimson Harvard University hoodie and studies it for a few moments. For the life of him he can’t remember which of them it belongs to.  He starts to pack it, then decides to slip it over his head and wear it instead.  The fabric is soft and comfortable, and it smells faintly of Jack’s laundry detergent.

After Gabriel’s examined everything, sifted through his entire wardrobe down to the last sock, he zips up his bag and slings it over his shoulder.  It’s lighter than he anticipated, and he’s thrown off-kilter by the feel of contents shifting in empty space. He should have expected it since most of his and belongings are back at the Swiss HQ.  Their house is just a glorified storage space for what doesn’t fit in their quarters. 

There is one exception to that, and it comes lumbering in on all fours through the open bedroom door.  Eighty pounds of shaggy, white fur barks loudly at him and sniffs at his suitcase.  They can’t keep their dog on base, though that hasn’t stopped Jack from trying.  It’s astounding the number of times he’s spooked their dog-sitter with an empty house because he forgot to tell her he (illegally) brought the dog back to Europe.

“Roger, be quiet.” Gabriel hisses. Roger in response licks his hand and rubs his head affectionately against his side.  Gabriel relents and gives him a tiny pat on the back.

Gabriel looks across the hallway to the spare bedroom’s closed door.  Jack took up permanent residence there some time ago, he can’t remember when. Gabriel hasn’t seen him yet since he arrived last night.  The only reason he knows he’s here is because the curtains were open and Roger had an extra helping of food in his bowl.

Gabriel collects the rest of his things and tiptoes past the door so he doesn’t wake Jack in the unlikely event he’s actually asleep (when does Jack ever sleep these days?).  His efforts are for naught as Roger keeps barking like he has something important to say.  He creeps down the stairs and his stomach rumbles as he passes the kitchen.  His last meal was on a hover-jet somewhere over the east coast. 

Gabriel walks past the presumably empty fridge and opens up the pantry next to it. They can’t keep anything that would spoil. Lucky for him, coffee doesn’t have an expiration date.  He deposits several servings of coffee into his laser coffeemaker, and crosses his arms and taps his foot as he waits an eternity for it to brew.  The damn thing never worked right, even when it was new.

When it’s finally ready Gabriel reaches into the cupboard for a mug, not really paying attention to what he’s grabbing.  After he’s pulled it out he stares at the white calligraphy printed on it.  _La famiglia è la patria del cuore_ \- home is where the heart is.  He and Jack got it in Rome the first time they visited, about a year after they got married.

As Gabriel pours his coffee he hears the sound of bare feet padding down the stairs.  A moment later Jack appears in the doorway.  His hair is disheveled and he wears a grey robe and plaid pajama bottoms.  He looks in his direction and blinks a few times, like he’s not sure if he’s actually seeing him in their kitchen holding a steaming mug of coffee or if he’s still asleep and dreaming it.

“Did I wake you?” Gabriel asks.  He sets his mug on the kitchen table and plops down in one of the wooden chairs.

Jack shakes his head.  “I’ve been up for a few hours.  Couldn’t sleep.” He patters over to the cupboard above the coffee maker, and reaches inside to retrieve a mug.  “What are you doing here?” Jack asks as he pours himself a cup of coffee.

“I live here.” Gabriel responds dryly.

Jack rolls his eyes at him. “I know that, but why are you _here_?  I thought you were flying straight to LA from HQ.”

“I wanted to stop and pick up a few things.” He says, gesturing to his luggage next to the table.  Jack turns to look at it and nods at him.

“How long do you think you’ll be gone?” He asks.

“I don’t know, a few days probably, maybe a week tops?” He responds gruffly before taking a sip from his mug.

“You’re coming back, right?”

He scoffs. “Of course I’m coming back.  Where else am I supposed to go?”

Jack looks at the suitcase, then backpack and box of miscellaneous junk, and raises an eyebrow.  He doesn’t comment before turning back around to face the counter. 

“Is there anything you need me to do for you while you’re away?” He asks as he adds two spoonfuls of sugar to his mug.

“Yeah, make sure McCree doesn’t run Blackwatch into the ground while I’m gone.”

Jack sighs.  “I meant for your family, Gabe.  I could come with you, if you want.”

“Don’t you have a job to do?”  Gabriel asks, not meaning for it to sound as bitter as it came out.  He pauses a moment and clears his throat.  “We’ll be fine.  You know how Micaela is.  She’s just being her usual overdramatic self.”

Jack nods and sits down across from him at the table.  The wooden chair scrapes against the tile as he moves his chair in closer.  He takes his holopad out of his robe pocket and he projects the screen into the air.  He pulls up a mission briefing and Gabriel watches as Jack’s eyes dart across the screen while he studies the maps and documents.  He types a message to HQ into his keypad in between sips from his mug. 

They both drink their coffee in silence until Gabriel gets to the last few drops in his mug and slurps them down.  Jack looks up from his screen, shoots him a disapproving frown, then goes back to proofreading his message.  Gabriel walks over to the kitchen sink to wash out his mug before taking out a green thermos from the cupboard and filling it with the remaining coffee.

“I should get going.” He says as he picks up his belongings. “I’ve got a long drive ahead.”

“Right.  You do that.  Thanks again for letting me know ahead of time you needed the car.” Jack says, not taking his eyes off the screen.  Gabriel rolls his eyes at the sarcasm in his voice, and doesn’t say another word as he heads out the front door.  He passes Roger, and sets down his box to give him a quick pat on the head. He tries to ignore his sad whining as he locks the door behind him.

It’s still dark outside, the sun is just barely creeping over the horizon.  The car headlights blinking to life provide him with just enough light to see what he’s doing.  There’s a bittersweet feeling in his gut as he loads his things into the car.  Gabriel shivers as he slams the trunk door shut, and he’s not sure if it’s from the cold winter wind or something else.  He decides to ignore it, not wanting to stop and waste time to process his emotions.  He opens the front door to the car and takes one long, last look at his house before getting in. 

As he’s rolling down the driveway he sees the front door fly open, and Jack comes running out after him.  He’s barefoot, his robe billows out from behind him, and he’s holding something small in his right hand.  Without hesitation Gabriel stops the car and runs over to meet him.

“You uh… you forgot this.”  Jack says.  Gabriel can see his cold breath in front of his face.  He shows him what he’s holding, a pair of gold, aviator style sunglasses. Gabriel inspects them for a moment in the dim light, then purses his lips.

“Those aren’t mine.”

“Are you sure?” Jack says.  He looks dumbfounded at the glasses, then back at him.  Gabriel can hear his teeth chattering in the cold.  “I could have sworn they were.”

“Nope.  They’re not really my style.”

“Oh.”

For one silent, lingering, moment their eyes meet.  The space between them could be filled with a continent.  An ocean.  Gabriel’s suddenly reminded of times years ago when they would show up to their meetings disheveled, flustered, and late because they tried to squeeze in one last kiss- or more- before they had to leave.  A strange and unwanted sadness creeps over him, and he can tell by Jack’s pained expression that he feels it too.

The moment is broken when he feels something small and cold land on his shoulder.  He looks up to see bright, white snowflakes starting to swirl around them.

“Man, I can’t wait to get away from all this.” Gabriel says.

“Yeah, I bet LA’s nice and warm right about now.” Jack says.  His nose and ears are starting to turn red.  He pulls his robe tighter around his torso. “Call me when you get in?”

Gabriel nods.  “I will.”

The corners of Jack’s mouth twitch.  Gabriel wonders if he has more to say, but he doesn’t have time to wait for him to fumble out the words.  Without saying anything else, Gabriel climbs back into the driver’s seat of their car and starts to roll back down the driveway.  He takes one last look at Jack, his hands wrapped around body as he heads back inside, before he turns the corner.  He almost thinks he can hear Roger howling in the distance as Jack and their house fade away from view.

With distance comes clarity.  As he drives through the Utah desert he remembers that those sunglasses actually were his.  He bought them on a mission in Rio, after his original pair got smashed in a fight.  And the hideous guitar-print tie had an equally hideous keyboard-print companion.  They were gag gifts from Reinhardt for their 10th wedding anniversary.  Jack “lost” his when he “accidentally” left it behind at a hotel in Reykjavik. 

When he passes Las Vegas it hits him that the Harvard hoodie he’s still wearing belongs to Jack.  It was a thank you souvenir from them after he gave the commencement speech six years ago. When Gabriel realizes this he feels his body temperature spike, and he has to pull over to the side of the freeway so he can take the hoodie off.  Breathing heavily, he throws it into the back of his car.

He stays on the shoulder a few moments, catching his breath and clutching the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turn white.  Everything hits him all at once. How much his departure this morning felt like goodbye. A permanent goodbye.  How he doesn’t have just a few days’ worth of clothes in his suitcase, he has his entire wardrobe.  Anything he would want in that house now rests in the trunk of his car. 

He wasn’t being honest when he said he was coming back, and they both knew it.

After ten hours on the road he finally parks on the street next to his sister’s house. He breathes a sigh of relief that he was able to make it before rush hour traffic froze the freeway to a halt.  He steps out of the car and stretches his arms up high.  Though the sun is setting it still feels warm and wonderful on his skin. 

He hears a chorus of excited screams and counts all six of his nieces and nephews rushing out the front door to greet him.  With broad, elated smiles on their faces they dogpile onto him and nearly knock him to the ground.

Gabriel laughs after he’s caught his breath, and wraps his arms around them.  “Good to see you too guys.”

“Woah kids, let’s give Uncle Gabriel some breathing space.”  Trailing behind is his brother-in-law Sebastian.  He looks like Gabriel remembered, short and stocky, with a receding hairline and a fading tribal style tattoo wrapped around his right bicep. 

“I stopped and got dinner.” Gabriel says. The kids’ faces light up as he pulls three white bags of In-N-Out out from inside the car. 

“Awesome!  Did you get milkshakes too?”

“Now what kind of Uncle would I be if I didn’t get shakes?” He says, laughing.  He hands the paper bags to Sebastian and motions to the cardboard cup tray on the passenger seat. “I’ll let you kids fight over who gets what flavor, except I’m saving this one for your Ma.”  He swipes a strawberry milkshake from the tray, and looks around to hand it to his sister, except he doesn’t see her.  She’s strangely absent from his welcome wagon.

“Micaela’s out back on the patio.” Sebastian says. He sets the bags down on his car hood to break up a scuffle between the kids.  “Want me to let her know you’re here?”

He shakes his head. “I’ll go around to meet her.”

Gabriel walks to the side of the house and unlatches the gate to the backyard. Immediately he sees his sister sitting by the poolside.  Her legs are submerged in the water and her back is turned to him.  Her long hair is greyer than he remembers, and she looks thinner than the last time he saw her, which was nearly a year ago now that he thinks about it.  He wonders if her gallbladder problems took more of a toll on her than he realized.

Gabriel clears his throat, and the sound prompts her to turn around.  Her eyes are surrounded by dark circles, but they’re warm and brown as ever. She beams at him, the gap between her two front teeth visible, and flies over to his side.  She’s so tiny compared to him, she has to stand on her tiptoes just to kiss him on the cheek.

“Gabriel, mi hermanito!  You came to me during my hour of need!” She sighs and flails her arm dramatically over her forehead like she’s some soap opera actress.

Gabriel scoffs. “Hermanito?  Micaela I’m five minutes younger than you.  And stop being so melodramatic, you’re not dying.”

She frowns at him.  “You don’t know that?  What if I did die tomorrow?  What would you say then, huh?”

“I’d say good riddance.”

She swats at his chest. “Wow, rude.”

Gabriel rolls his eyes and puts his arm around her shoulder. He feels her muscles relax a little from underneath him. “Really though, you’ve got nothing to worry about.  You’re going to be fine.”

A gentle smile forms on her face, and she points at the cup in his hand. “Is that for me?”

“Mhmm.”  He hums.  She starts to reach for it, but just as she’s about to grab it he hoists it up high in the air, just out of her reach. 

“Who’s the hermanito now sis?” He teases.  She scowls at him, and he relents.  

Micaela takes a long sip from the straw.  “Mmmm.. this is so good. God I can’t wait until I’m able to eat normally again.” She rubs her stomach.  “Every time I have fast food these days it’s nothing but indigestion and diarrhea.”

He grimaces. “Ugh… TMI Micaela.”

She laughs.  “We’re family Gabriel, nothing is TMI.”

Adrian, his oldest nephew, opens the backdoor and sticks his head out. He’s wearing one of the white, paper In-N-Out hats Gabriel got with their meal. “Ma!  Uncle Gabriel!  You guys want to come in for dinner?”

“Coming mijo.” Micaela says. She slides her feet back into her sandals and the two of them walk through the screen door into the kitchen.

“Hey Uncle Gabriel, is Uncle Jack coming to visit too?” His youngest niece Natalie asks him as he sits down at the table.

“No.  He can’t make it.” He replies quickly.  He feels his shoulders tense up, and he busies his hands with opening up a ketchup packet.

Natalie sticks out her lower lip.  “Aw man I miss him.  We never see him anymore.”

“Tell him he needs to visit soon.” Adrian says, barely intelligible through a mouthful of hamburger.  “He’s gotta tell the story about when he was battling the Omnics in Russia and he was outnumbered by Bastions 10 to 1 and-”

“No, no it was 15 to 1!” His other nephew Mateo cuts in, and with that the kids start bickering over a story that Gabriel knows was actually 20 to 1.

Micaela leans over and starts to speak to him, loud enough so he can hear but not audible to the rest of the table. “Jack called me about an hour ago. He wanted to know if you got in okay.”

Gabriel sighs.  “He always underestimates LA traffic.”

“He sounded kind of sad over the phone Gabriel.”

He shrugs. “He’s probably just tired.  I don’t think he sleeps anymore.”

She narrows her eyes at him. “You know if there wasn’t so much going on in my own life I’d be prying deeper into yours.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

She pats him gently on the cheek.  “Call him Gabriel.  Whatever it is you two can work it out.”

“Right now?” He gestures to the commotion at the table.  Adrian, Mateo, and two of his other nieces are still arguing over that story, and Sebastian is chastising Natalie and her younger brother for playing with their food.

She rolls her eyes. “No dumbass, but sometime tonight.  Promise?  I know if you don’t you’ll spend the whole night brooding about it.”

“Sure, whatever.” He says before stuffing his face with fries.

Instead of calling Jack that night, Gabriel calls a real estate agent.  Three days later he signs the lease on a condo a half hour west of his sister’s place.  Two bedrooms, a whirlpool bathtub, in-unit laundry, and a balcony that overlooks the ocean.  Nice perks for a place he’ll only visit a handful of times a year.

The first thing Gabriel does when he arrives back at the Swiss HQ is knock on the door to Jack’s office.

“I uh… I won’t be needing these anymore.” He says without introduction or fanfare, and hands him the folded up Harvard hoodie with his old house key on top.

Jack nods at him and takes the pile from his hands.  The sides of his mouth twitch again, like he wants to say something but can’t translate his thoughts into words. Instead he silently, wordlessly, slides the door shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've only been to LA once, all I remember about it is traffic and In-N-Out.
> 
> I couldn't decide whether I wanted Gabriel's sister to be older or younger, then I got hit with the idea of a twin sister and immediately fell in love with it.


	4. John Morrison Has Been a Continuous Resident of Greene County for Three Months.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Jack's official bio lists he's from Bloomington, but Bloomington is actually a pretty sizable city (I think upwards of 70.000 people live there), and not really farm town. You can pry farm-boy Jack from my cold, dead hands, so I moved him to a tiny town nearby-ish.

The late July afternoon heat comes rolling in through the open car window.  Gabriel can feel it hanging uncomfortably in the air around him.  He takes off his beanie to wipe away the beads of sweat that have formed on his forehead, and wishes that he and Jack had splurged and got a rental car with air conditioning.

He’s only spent two hours of his life so far in the state of Indiana but he can already see how someone like Jack would go stir-crazy from living here.  Indianapolis came across normal enough.  It felt like any other big city with its skyscrapers, highways, people bustling down the sidewalks, noise from construction and rebuilding.  It was less weathered and war-torn than other cities of its size, but that was the only thing Gabriel noticed as a little off. 

As they ventured further away from the city, the landscape got progressively more surreal. _Everything_ in Indiana is flat.  The road, the land, the air.  Their car is just a red blip in an endless sea of corn and soybeans.  Every now and then they pass something that adds a pop of color to the landscape, but to Gabriel it raises more questions than answers.  Giant wind vanes that still rotate despite the lack of breeze.  Billboards advertising things like ‘Steak and Shake: Exit 2.5 miles’ or ‘Jesus died for our Sins'.  Herds of cows grazing away at yellow grass and a putrid scent that makes Gabriel gag and want to roll up the window. 

Occasionally he’ll see the metal husk of a Bastion and OR-14 rusting away in a cornfield, but once they’re past Indianapolis those become far and few in-between.  The omnics focused their attacks on major population centers.  Big cities like New York, Chicago, Houston.  Los Angeles. They ignored the little farm towns out in the middle of nowhere, and that’s probably how people like Jack’s parents survived.

Gabriel fiddles with the radio dial in another futile attempt to find something worth listening to.  All he's stumbled on so far is honkytonk country, Christian rock, and static.

“Are there any stations out here that play decent music?” He grumbles.

“Try 97.5.” Jack suggests.  “It’s the Top 40 music station.”

Gabriel turns the knob until he reaches the suggested station.  Over the speakers plays a rock song with a repetitive guitar riff and cowbell beat.  It’s catchy, but definitely not contemporary.  It would be at home with the oldies station his Abuelo used to listen to.

Gabriel snorts. “Right.  This is the Top 40 station.”

Jack shrugs his shoulders. “Well it was the Top 40 station when I was in high school.  Must’ve changed.”

Gabriel sighs, and leans back into his seat.  Classic rock is better than nothing, he supposes. He leaves the radio on, playing idly in the background as he taps his foot to the beat and stares out the open window. 

“God, how can you stand driving through these cornfields?” He asks.

Jack chuckles softly.  “It’s not that bad.  At least we’re moving. How do you city folk stand being stuck on the freeway forever?”

Gabriel rolls his eyes. “We know better than to cross LA during fucking rush hour that's how.  I tried to warn you, didn’t I? But no, you wanted to stay on the beach all afternoon.  Not only did it take us forever to get back to my sister’s place, you got the worst sunburn of your life.”

Jack winces. “Don’t remind me.  It’s been a week and it still stings.”

The radio cuts to a commercial break, and Gabriel tries one more time to find a station without any success.  He shuts it off and rests his arm on the open window frame, and they drive past a large, ovular road sign with fading gold writing etched into weathered wood.

_“Welcome to Switz City, Indiana.  Population: 572”_

Beneath that sign there’s another.  Smaller, but coated with fresh paint.

_“Hometown of John Morrison.  Founding member of Overwatch.”_

Gabriel raises an amused eyebrow.  "I see they’ve rolled out the welcome mat for you.”

“I wish they wouldn’t.” Jack says sheepishly.  His ears tinge red, but Gabriel can see a tiny, pleased smile spreading across his face.

It only takes a few minutes to cross through the small farm town.  Some of the townsfolk lounging on their front lawn wave at them as they pass.  Jack smiles and waves back, calling out to a few of them by name.  Gabriel looks down at his hands and fidgets with his wedding ring, feeling suddenly shy near all these strangers staring at him.

They drive down the narrow road a few miles more before they pull into the driveway of Jack’s childhood home.  On the wraparound porch stand his parents, who wave at them with huge, loving grins on their faces. They look just like their photograph counterparts.  Gabriel's talked to Isaac and Abbey over the phone and through video chat dozens of times before, but he’s yet to meet them in the flesh.  The war got in the way of a lot of things. This was one of them.

Abbey comes running down the front path to their car and pulls Jack into a teary embrace. Her graying, auburn hair nearly comes undone from its bun in her enthusiasm, and happy tears flow freely down her rounded face.  Jack only hesitates a moment before returning the hug in full force, nearly lifting her off the ground in his excitement.

Isaac approaches Gabriel, and he’s struck by how remarkably similar Jack looks to his father.  Isaac is older and leaner, but otherwise they’re nearly identical.  They have the same strong jaw and clear, blue eyes.  They even wear their hair the same way, though his dad’s is streaked with salt and pepper gray. Gabriel holds out his hand for him to shake, but Isaac ignores it and pulls him into a gentle hug instead.

“It’s nice to finally meet you Gabriel.” He says softly in his ear.

“You too.”

As soon as they pull apart Gabriel feels another pair of strong hands pushing his shoulders down, and Abbey plants a kiss on both his cheeks.

"Gosh, you're so tall.  Why are you boys so tall?" Abbey says, beaming and wiping away a tear from the corner of her eye.

“I dunno, good genetics?” Gabriel says.  He glances over at Jack and they share a soft smile.

In an instant, Gabriel’s taken aback at how quickly it happens, Abbey’s face goes from joyful and elated to downright terrifying.  She puts her hands on her hips and looks at her son with a piercing stare.

“So tell me John, how come your Father and I weren’t invited to your wedding?”

Jack winces, and his ears turn red.  “We didn’t really invite anyone Mom.  It was... it was a spur of the moment type thing.”

"A spur of the moment thing huh?” She scoffs and points a finger at him.  He takes a shaky step backwards.  “My only child gets married and he doesn't tell me about it until two months later.”

“Mom I told you things were kind of crazy and-”

“And I don't get to meet his husband until now!"

“I- there was a war on Mom!”

Gabriel laughs as Abbey continues to chastise him.  It’s nice to be on the other end of the lecture this time. When they met Micaela last week she'd punched him hard on the arm for eloping without telling her.  She still has a mean right hook, and he still has a bruise. 

“You know my sister’s getting married next spring.” Gabriel says to Abbey, taking mercy on his husband.  “I’m sure she’d love to have you at her wedding.”

She smiles at him.  “We got her invitation in the mail just the other day.  We’re so excited to meet her. From everything you and Jack have told us she sounds lovely.”

“Speaking of your family, we were very sorry to hear about your parents, Gabriel.” Isaac says with a soft, sympathetic expression.

Gabriel’s lip quivers and he nods. “Thank you.”

A quiet moment passes between them.  Jack's father takes a breath in. “Well, there’s no use in standing out in this heat.  Come on in.  Dinner’s almost ready.”

“Hope you boys are hungry.” Abbey says.

Jack smiles at them.  “Starving.”

The four step through the screen door and into the front room.  Gabriel takes off his shoes at the door and relishes the drop in temperature as cool air breezes across his skin.  Air conditioning is a godsend.

“Make yourselves at home.  I’m going to check on the oven.” Isaac says to them before disappearing through a doorway into the kitchen.

Gabriel looks around to take in his new surroundings.  The hardwood floor creaks as he walks into the living room.  Jack and his mother take a seat on a plush couche laden with a quilted throw blanket.  Gabriel sits down across from them in a brown recliner.  He listens for a few minutes as Abbey and Jack catch up on the local, town gossip, but he finds he can’t follow their conversation without context.  He gets up and walks over to the fireplace to examine the photographs lining the mantle. 

It occurs to him now that he hasn’t seen any photos of young Jack before. Jack doesn’t exactly carry baby pictures of himself in his wallet.  There’s one of Jack, probably around seven or eight, standing on a beach (The Indiana Dunes?  He’s mentioned that place a couple times before.) holding a squirming fish in his arms. Next to it is a wedding portrait of his parents.  Then Jack in a black cap and gown, holding a rolled up diploma.  The year at the bottom tells Gabriel it’s high school, but Jack’s face is so innocent and boyish.  It’s hard to believe they were both that young once. 

A photograph at the far end of the mantle captures his attention.  It’s of him and Jack standing in front of the ruins of an old German castle, taken about a year before they got married.  His breath hitches.  He wasn’t expecting to see any photos of himself.

“I have more pictures in the attic if you want to see them.” Abbey says from the couch, smiling sweetly at him.

“Mom please don’t.” Jack moans.

“Why not?  You were just the cutest little baby.” Abby coos at him.  Jack leans forward and hides his blushing face in his hands.

Isaac pokes his head around the doorframe and smiles. “Okay guys dinner’s ready.”

Gabriel’s stomach growls, and he notices the scent of pork chops and freshly baked rolls wafting through the air.  As they pass through the kitchen he takes a quick look out the window into the backyard, and he notices a sturdy oak tree with a wooden structure built around it.  He pulls Jack aside before he enters the dining room. 

“You have a tree house?”

“Yup.” Jack nods at him.

“Lucky bastard.  I always wanted one of those things as a kid.”

“You wanna go up after dinner?” He asks.

Gabriel eyes him skeptically.  “You sure that thing can hold our weight?”

“Oh yeah, it’s nice and sturdy.  We'll be fine.”

“If you say so.” He says, and the two of them take their seats at the dinner table.

Even with the sun setting, the tree house is still stifling hot inside. The tiny window barely lets in a breeze.  Gabriel ducks to fit through the doorway, and he has to keep his back hunched as he navigates through the little wooden room.

“Somehow I remember this place being bigger.” Jack says as he sits down on the floor, his long legs stretched out in front of him nearly span the entire room.

“That’s because _you_ were smaller.” He laughs dryly, and plops down next to him.

"No, I swear I could fit like, six people in here comfortably.  Now you and I can barely squeeze in."

"As I said, you and your friends were probably half the size of us now." Gabriel wraps his arm around his waist to pull him closer, and whispers into his ear. "Plus you probably didn't sit this close to each other."

Jack laughs.  "Gabe no, we're not hooking up in my tree house."

"Why not?" He asks before kissing his neck.

"It's weird."  He says, and half-heartedly tries to push him away to no avail.  "This is where I hung out as a kid, y’know?  I have memories of reading comics and playing with toy cars up here.  Besides my parents are 50 feet away and can probably see us through the window.”

“Alright, alright.” He relents, and presses one last kiss to his temple before scooting away to a more respectable distance.  As he moves over his hand slides on a glossy piece of paper, and he picks it up to examine it.  It’s a faded picture of Jack as a teenager along with some people he doesn’t recognize. Old friends from high school he assumes.  They’re at a beach sitting under a big blue umbrella, and they beam up brightly at the camera.

“What’s that?” Jack peer over his shoulder and a nostalgic smile creeps over his face.  “Oh man, I haven’t seen this picture in ages.”

“God you were cute back then.  You had braces.  And freckles.  I just want to squish your cheeks.” Gabriel says and reaches out for Jack’s face. He giggles and pulls away.

“Cut it out.” He says.

“So these are your friends from high school, huh?” Gabriel asks.

“Yup.  That’s Hunter.” Jack points at the lanky guy with red hair in the back, then the girl with a brown ponytail. “Next to him is Heather.  The two holding hands are Jake and Lucy.  Then that’s Cody, and me.”

Gabriel smiles.  “Bet you guys were the popular kids.”

Jack snorts out a laugh.  “Gabe, my high school was barely big enough to have a graduating class, let alone have a popular clique.”

Gabriel frowns at him with pursed lips.  “But you did have one, right?”

“I guess, but it wasn’t us.  We were too boring.”

“No way, a bunch of good looking kids like you, you had to be the popular ones.  Let me guess.” He circles his finger around the black-haired boy next to Jack. “He was your class president?”

Jack shakes his head. “Cody?  Nah, yearbook editor."

“Okay then, let’s try again.” He points at the girl with the brown ponytail. “She was valedictorian?”

“Nope.  That would be me.” Jack clicks his tongue and points his finger at himself.

“They were cutest couple.”

Jack snorts. “More like most dysfunctional couple. They broke up and got back together more times than I can count.”

Gabriel laughs, then points at the redhead in the back.  “And uh… he was star quarterback.”

Jack’s eyes widen in surprise at him.  “Actually, yeah.  He was a pretty good quarterback, but he was better at basketball.  He got a scholarship to play at Notre Dame and he probably could’ve gone pro if…” Jack goes silent, as though he lost his train of thought.  His smile dissipates.  “if not for the Crisis.”

“Oh.” Gabriel feels his stomach drop, and the air around him thickens. “He didn’t make it then?”

Jack shakes his head. “He was in the Air Force.  About a year in his plane got shot down over the Atlantic Ocean.”

Gabriel gestures down at the picture.  “How many of them are still alive?”

“Including myself?  Two.  Maybe three. Jake died in the Battle of Dorado, and Lucy in one of the east coast bombings.  Heather’s the only one I know who survived.  She lives in Bloomington now, and is working on her teaching degree at IU.”

“What about Cody?” He asks.

Jack shrugs. “I lost touch with him before the Crisis started.  I enlisted, he moved to New York for school, and we just stopped talking for some reason.  Weird, considering out of all these guys he was the one I was closest with.”

“It’s not that weird.  I mean, aside from my sister I don’t really talk to any of my high school friends.  Not that I had a whole lot of friends to begin with." He shrugs. “People drift sometimes.  It sucks, but there’s not much you can do about it.”

“I guess so.”  A silent moment passes between them.  Jack looks at him and gives him a shaky smile.  “Hey, you didn’t do me.  What popular high school stereotype am I?”

“Hmmm…" Gabriel taps his chin.  "Well you already told me you were valedictorian so… prom king?”

Jack laughs.  “Not even close!  I didn't go to prom, remember?”

“What?  No, I thought for sure you did.  You told me that story where you- where you-”

“Where I got hit with a baseball the morning of and spent the whole day in the ER with a huge purple bruise on my head?"

He laughs and shakes his head.  “Pretty sure you’ve never mentioned that.  Did I tell you about how one of my sister’s friends got dumped two days before and I got roped in to be her date?  Even though I’d been saying for months that I did not want to go under any circumstances they still forced me.”

“Nope, definitely haven’t heard that one.  Oh man you must have been miserable.” Jack says, laughing.  He reaches for his side and takes his phone out of his pocket.  It illuminates his face bright white.

“What are you doing?” Gabriel asks as he peers over his shoulder to look.

“Pulling up your sister’s Instagram.  I want to see if she has any prom pictures of you.”

“No.” Gabriel moans, and reaches over him to snatch the phone out of his hands.  Jack raises his arm straight up into the air, holding it just out of his reach.  Gabriel climbs on top of him, straddling his legs over his midsection, and knocks Jack down to the floor.  He grabs the phone, tosses it aside, and kisses him full on the mouth. 

“This isn’t too weird for you, is it?” Gabriel asks, pulling his lips away ever so slightly so he can get the words out.

“Oh fuck it.” Jack breathes and puts his hands on his cheeks to yank him back in for an even deeper kiss.

After the sun has completely set and the mosquitos have come out Isaac calls them both back into the house.  They sit in the living room, drinking lemonade and eating homemade cookies, talking and laughing for hours.  Isaac brings down stacks of photo albums from upstairs, and Gabriel relents and shows off old photos his sister took of him.  It’s when the conversation turns to grandkids that he and Jack suddenly become very tired and decide it’s time to hit the hay.

Gabriel spreads out a thick, cream-colored blanket over the bed in the guest room.  The furniture in is a little dusty, and a few of the paintings on the walls hang askew.  According to Jack the room hasn’t been used in a while.  He hears a tiny, gentle knock on the door behind him. 

“Sorry I didn’t get around to straightening up in here.” He turns around and sees Abbey standing in the doorway.  When he smiles at her she takes a few steps inside.  “I assumed you’d be sleeping in Jack’s room.”

Gabriel scratches the back of his neck. “Well I’d like to, but his bed’s too small to fit both of us.”

She laughs. “That makes sense, considering how huge you boys are.  What is the army feeding you these days?” 

Gabriel laughs sheepishly. There’s a joke here somewhere, about radioactive chemicals, or whatever that stuff they pumped into them was. He decides it’s best not to mention it.

Abbey ventures another step closer, her face is hard and serious.  “Can I ask you something, Gabriel?”

He nods. “Of course.”

She clears her throat.  “During the war there were rumors circulating about the government doing experiments on soldiers to make them uh… super-human, for lack of a better word.  And I can’t help but wonder-  do you or Jack know anything about that?”

Gabriel’s silent as he thinks about how he should proceed.  After a moment he nods “I can’t go into much detail -a lot of it’s still classified- but the general public seems to know enough about it and... yeah.  It was called The Soldier Enhancement Program, and Jack and I were both involved.”

“I figured as much.”  She’s says quietly.  She looks down to study her hands, then back up at him.  “Was it difficult?”

“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.  But I don’t regret it, and I don’t think Jack does either.”

Abbey smiles.  “Jack’s always had a natural instinct to help people, even if it got himself into some trouble in the process.  He can be a little bit… impulsive at times.”

Gabriel chuckles.  “Oh I'm well aware.”

She stares up at him with a look of wonder and puts a gentle hand on his cheek. “I’m glad he found someone like you with a good head on his shoulders to keep him safe.”

“I didn’t- I wasn’t-” Gabriel stammers. He pauses to collect his thoughts. “We kept each other safe.  He has my back as much as I have his.”

“I know.  Jack can handle himself, and I certainly don’t mean to undercut your achievements. I’ve read all about them in the news. You’re a remarkable man Gabriel Reyes.” She beams at him, then pulls her hand away.  “I just worry a lot. About both of you.  You’ll understand one day when you’re a parent.”

With that she winks at him, and leaves him staring blankly at the back of the door as she shuts it behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If it wasn't obvious, [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClQcUyhoxTg) is the song on playing on the radio.
> 
> Also Jack's mother's name is lovingly stolen from [this comic.](http://disteal.tumblr.com/post/159631146175/todays-sequential-art-practice-turned-into-r76) (Funnily enough though Abbey was a name I was considering before I read it.)


	5. John Morrison Has Been a Continuous Resident of Indiana for Six Months.

After the omnic crisis ended Abigail Klein-Morrison purchased a cemetery plot a few miles from the shores of Lake Michigan.  Sixteen years later on a cool October morning, she was laid to rest there.

Jack used to talk big about how he wanted to take Gabriel to his favorite childhood vacation spot.  It would be their spontaneous romantic getaway, he always said.  They never managed to make the trip. Life kept getting in the way.  First a war, then their jobs, and now the fact that they can barely stand to be in the same room with each other.  

It’s a shame the only thing that brings people together is tragedy.  

Abbey’s passing came on suddenly. Gabriel found out about it only a few short hours ago. He travelled to Indiana as fast as he could, but he still arrived late.  As he walks through the cemetery towards her gravesite other mourners pass him going in the opposite direction.  Gabriel only recognizes a handful of faces.  Switz City residents Jack used to tell him stories about.  Relatives he faintly remembers meeting at family reunions years ago.  Jack’s old friend Heather and her wife say hello as he passes, and one of Jack’s cousins whose name he can’t recall stops to shake his hand.  

When he makes it to the gravesite only a handful of people still remain.  He looks around for Jack, and is perplexed when he doesn’t see him.  He does spot Roger on a leash lying quietly at Isaac’s heels as he talks to the Rabbi, so he imagines he can’t be too far.  Gabriel wonders for a moment what kind of strings Jack had to pull so he could bring a dog to a cemetery.

There’s no headstone for Abbey yet.  Her plot is marked by a few photographs held up by wire, some small, smooth stones, and freshly dug earth.  Gabriel kneels by her gravesite, and though he’s never considered himself very religious, he says a silent prayer.

He thinks for the first time in a long time about his own parents who died at the beginning of the omnic crisis.  During training one afternoon he got called out by a superior and escorted down a long, narrow hallway to her office.  There he was handed a phone with Micaela on the other end, and she told him about the bombs that hit their childhood home where their parents still lived.

It was the only time he was allowed outside contact during SEP.

It took him years to let himself mourn their deaths properly.  During SEP he underwent so much mental and physical anguish that he wasn’t really able to process it.  For a long time he was in denial.  He’d catch himself wondering if maybe, somehow, his parents made it out of the rubble and were still alive.  Sometimes he’d study crowds of people and wonder if their faces were mixed in with them.  It was only after the Crisis had ended when he visited the memorial to the fallen in Washington DC that he really accepted that they were gone.  

Jack had been there that day to hold his hand.  And later, when they were back in the privacy of their own hotel room, he held him gently as he wept.

Gabriel hears two sets of footsteps approach him from behind. He does a quick sign of the cross before standing up to greet his dog and Father-in-law.

“Hey Roger.”  He says and scratches behind his ears.  Roger wags his tongue and stomps his back paw on the ground. “Hello  Mr. Mor–” He pauses a moment, corrects himself. “Isaac.”

“Hello Gabriel.” Isaac says to him.  Gabriel studies his face a moment before pulling him into a soft hug.  It’s been years since he’s seen him, but he doesn’t remember him looking so old and fragile.  The wrinkles around his eyes give them a sunken, hollow appearance, and the few wisps of hair left on his head are stark white.   

“I’m so sorry for your loss.” Gabriel says after they break apart.  “And I’m sorry I was so late getting here.”

“No, don’t be. I know your line of work keeps you busy.”

“So, how are you doing?” He asks, then winces and bites his lip. “Sorry, I’m sure everyone’s asked you that already and you’re probably sick of answering it.”

“Yeah, it’s gotten a little old.” Isaac answers, letting out a quiet breath.  “But I’m doing okay.  Right now I’m just grateful I had all the time with Abbey I did.”

Gabriel smiles kindly at him.  “You wouldn’t know where Jack is, would you?  I haven’t seen him around.”

“I think he left a little ewhile ago. Probably headed over to The Dunes to be alone.  He’s pretty shaken up by all of this.”  

“I’d imagine so.” He nods his head in agreement, though he actually has no idea how he’s handling everything.  

He last saw Jack yesterday afternoon, when they passed each other walking down the corridor between their offices. They brusquely nodded at each other and didn’t say a word.  Jack would have known about his Mother by then, but looking back on the encounter Gabriel didn’t notice anything.   He looked stressed, but these days he always looks like he’s on the brink of a nervous breakdown. Gabriel didn’t assume anything by it.  

That evening when Gabriel looked out his office window and saw Jack’s jet flying west he assumed it was something job related.  He wasn’t aware of any active missions, but he can barely keep track of his own schedule, let alone Jack’s.

Ana had been the one to actually break the news him.  Today before their morning briefing she asked him why he was here and not with Jack in Indiana.  He stared at her, puzzled, and asked what she was talking about.  As soon as she told him he was out the door and on the first jet headed to the States.  

It stung that heard about Abbey’s death through the grapevine, and that Jack chose to confide in Ana and not him.  Even if they barely spoke these days, this was the kind of thing people told each other about.  Then again maybe it was his own fault for not paying attention to the signals.  He should have picked up on his husband’s pain.  He knows Jack better than he knows himself.  At least he used to. Nowadays he’s not so sure.

Isaac looks at him with a concerned expression. “You know, Jack doesn’t talk about you much anymore.  Is everything okay between the two of you?”

Gabriel just shrugs.  He doesn’t want to lie and say everything is fine, but he can’t bring himself to give the honest answer.  This isn’t the time, place, or person to air their grievances with.  

He doubts Jack has told his parents much about their marital troubles.  On the rare occasions he spoke with them they still treated him warmly, and he still gets ‘Happy Anniversary’ cards from them even though he and Jack long stopped celebrating - or caring.  Gabriel understands though.  It’s a hard thing to talk about, especially with family.  His sister doesn't know nearly as much as she thinks she does.  He’s left out the worst of it.

Isaac sees through his silence, and gives him a sympathetic look. “You know that Abbey and I almost got a divorce once.”

“Really?  Jack never mentioned it before.”

“He wouldn’t remember.  He couldn’t have been more than three years old when it happened.” Isaac says, and looks down to study the lines on his palms.  

“You don’t have to talk about it.” Gabriel says, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“No, it’s fine.  I want to.” He pauses a moment as he kneels down to stroke Roger’s back. “Things were tense between the two of us.  Money was tight, and there was all this worry that omnics would take over our jobs.  But we managed to work through our issues, and I got 40 more years with the love of my life.” He smiles weakly at him and takes a breath.  “Gabriel, I’m not a relationship expert by any means, but the way I see it you have to either fix things or end things.  Life’s too damn short to be miserable and in between.”  

Gabriel thinks on his advice for a moment.   They keep saying they want to make things better between them, but they keep putting off any effort to actually do it.  All they do is argue and cause even more angry, suffocating weeds to poke up through the cracks of their relationship.  

How long have they been miserable and in between?

“You said Jack went over to the beach?  Which way is that?”

Lake Michigan is no ocean.  Missing is the familiar scent of salt in the air, and if Gabriel squints across the horizon he can almost see the Chicago skyline off in the distance.  He wants to take off his shoes and stick his toes in the water, but it’s far too cold.  The autumn air is chilled enough for him to see his breath in front of his face. He wishes his military formal wear had a bit more warmth to it.  

After sometime, Gabriel’s not sure how long, he comes across Jack sitting alone in the tall grass. He’s looking out to the horizon and fiddling absentmindedly with something in his hand.  As Gabriel gets closer he sees a flash of gold and chestnut wood between his fingertips, and he realizes that it’s _his_ wedding ring.  Gabriel had returned it to him in a fit of rage a few months ago during a particularly bad fight.  He never spared much thought before on what Jack ended up doing with it after.  It’s comforting, somehow, to know the he held onto it and wears it in place of his own.

“Gabe?  What are you doing here?” Jack squints at him in confusion when he sees him approaching.

“What? I’m not allowed to come to my Mother-in-law’s funeral?”

“No, I just meant-”

“Ana told me about Abbey.  And your Dad told me I could find you here.”  He says and sits down in the grass next to him, leaving a few inches of space between them.  “So… we finally managed to visit the Indiana Dunes together.” He says and gives Jack’s forearm a soft nudge.

“Yeah, I guess we did.” Jack says, and the tiniest of smiles forms on his lips.  

“I wish the circumstances were better though.”

“Yeah, me too.”

They sit in silence for a moment as they watch the waves roll in.  Jack continues fidgeting with the ring on his finger. Gabriel decides to forget about the cold and takes off his shoes and socks to stick his feet in the sand.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my Mom.” Jack says after a few minutes. “It’s not - it wasn’t personal or anything.  I just wasn’t ready to talk about it.  I didn’t even mean to tell Ana.  She dug it out of me.  You know how perceptive she is.”

“Yeah. I know.” He says plainly.

“She had a heart attack **,** Gabe.”

“I know.” He says again.  Ana had told him this too.  

“She’d been leaving messages all the time to call her, but I was always so busy and I kept putting it off.  Now, all of the sudden-” He lets out a choked sob. “I didn’t even get to say goodbye.”

Without hesitation Gabriel wraps his arms around him and rubs tiny, gentle circles on his back while he heaves out a sea of sobs into his shoulder.  Jack’s body feels cold from being outside so long, and Gabriel pulls him closer to keep him warm.  

After what feels like hours passed the two of them pull away.  Jack’s face is red and blotchy.  Gabriel takes out a handkerchief from his pocket and hands it to him.  He accepts it readily.

“Thank you for being here.” Jack says as he reaches up to wipe his eyes. “I know things haven’t been the greatest between us and-”

Gabriel shushes him. “Don’t worry about that right now.  We can work it out later.”

Jack closes his eyes and rests his head on his shoulder.  Gabriel stares out at the horizon.  He wants to take this quiet moment as a sign that he and Jack can heal their broken relationship.  But there’s a terrible voice in the back of his mind telling him that this is only temporary, and he can’t make it go away.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that argument where Gabriel returned his ring, keep that in mind for later chapters :)))))))
> 
> I should mention that while I did research on Jewish funerary traditions, I'm not Jewish myself. If you notice any inaccuracies please let me know.


	6. There Are No Children of the Marriage.

Gabriel watches Fareeha with curiosity as she paints his nails.  Her strokes are slow and delicate, and she works with a methodical patience not normally seen in an eight year old girl.  She sways back and forth slightly in the spinning office chair in front of his desk, and hums along to the Egyptian pop song playing over his computer speakers.

“You almost done there?” Gabriel asks.  His hands are starting to go numb and he’s got an itch on his nose he’d really like to scratch.

“Almost.” She says carefully, not looking up from her work. She makes one last stroke on his right pinky finger before slamming her hands down on the desk. “There!  All done!”

Gabriel holds out his hand to inspect the polish.  It sparkles under the fluorescent lights of his office.  “Nice job.  I like it.” He says, and gives her a warm smile. 

“I knew you would.” She beams at him, revealing the space where her two front teeth have recently fallen out. 

Fareeha holds out her hand in front of his, comically small in comparison, and splays out her fingers to show off her own manicure.  Their nails are an identical shade of glittery, cornflower blue.  He’d painted them a few hours ago, shortly after Ana dropped her off at his office. 

“Can we check on Mama’s meeting now?” Fareeha asks as she spins around in the chair.

Gabriel clicks his tongue and shakes his head.  “Sorry kiddo.  I told you we can’t go check on them, we have to wait for them to finish.” 

Fareeha sighs, blowing her bangs up and out of her face. “But she’s been in there for hours.  How much longer is it going to take?”

“As long as it has to.” Gabriel says and shrugs. He’s running out of ways to keep Fareeha entertained as the meeting between Overwatch, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, and the CEO of The Vishkar Corporation drags on into the late afternoon.

Overwatch made the mistake of getting involved in one of Vishkar’s hard-light city projects without first clearing it with the New Zealand Government.  Now the Prime Minister is furious with them, and Vishkar’s terse attitude isn’t helping smooth things over.  The whole situation is an enormous mess, and Gabriel’s grateful he’s not involved.

Fareeha looks at him with wide, hopeful eyes.  “Can’t we just walk by the room?  We don’t have to go inside.”

“Nope. You know your Mama said you have to wait here until it’s done.”

“But Gabriel, I’m bored!” Fareeha says as she crosses her arms and pouts at him.  Gabriel tries his best not to laugh at her.  It’s amazing to him how kids treat every minor inconvenience like it’s some kind of life-threatening emergency.

“Can we go find Reinhardt?” Fareeha asks, still pouting at him. “I want to braid his hair.”

Gabriel shakes his head. “Sorry he’s in the meeting too, Fareeha.”

“Then can we go to the shooting range?” She asks, flashing him an impish smile.  “You can teach me how to use your shotguns.”

“Uh… I don’t think so kiddo.” He winces.  Ana sniping him dead is only one of the many million reasons why that’s a terrible idea. “Why don’t you sit tight and play a game on your holopad?”

She frowns at him.  “I’ve already played them all.”

“Then do you want to play a game on my computer?”

She eyes him with suspicion. “I thought adults couldn’t have games on their computer at work.”

Gabriel puts a finger to his lips, resisting the urge to laugh.  “Don’t tell Director Petras, but sometimes when I’m bored at work I’ll play a computer game.”

Fareeha grins mischievously at him, which Gabriel interprets as interest.  He clicks open the folder on his desktop labeled “Misc. Files”, and reveals his selection of computer games.  He stands up from his office chair to let Fareeha sit behind his desk.  She scoots back, making herself comfortable in the plush seat.

Fareeha starts to grab the mouse, but stops short as her eyes land on the row of framed photographs on his desk.  A tiny smile forms on her face as she reaches out for one of the pictures.  Gabriel thinks she’s going for the photo of him, her mother, and Jack, but to his surprise her fingers clutch around one taken just a few weeks ago at his Godson’s baptism.

Fareeha studies the photo with a look of curiosity.  In it Gabriel cradles his nephew as he sleeps soundly away in his white baptismal gown.  Jack stands by his side, his niece balanced on his arm.  He smiles meekly at the camera while she burrows herself into his broad shoulder. The tiny bit of her face visible to the camera is an ugly red from the temper-tantrum she’d thrown a few minutes prior.

“I didn’t know you and Jack had kids.” Fareeha says.

Gabriel laughs. “Those aren’t our kids.  That’s our nephew Adrian and our niece Maya.”

“Oh, okay.” She says plainly.  She stares at the photo a beat longer, then looks back up at him.  “ _Do_ you and Jack have any kids?” She asks.

“Nope.”

“Why?”

“Well…”  He starts, then stops. He bites his lip, scratches the back of his neck, and feels his whole body tense up as he tries to scramble together an answer.

Gabriel’s grown used to people (his sister, Reinhardt, his mother-in-law, _especially_ his mother-in-law) probing him about kids. It’s not a question he particularly likes hearing, but he figures it comes with the territory of being married.  He thinks maybe the reason it bothers him so much is because he’s is asking himself the same question.  Why haven’t he and Jack started a family yet?

It would be easier, he thinks, if they simply didn’t want kids.  Then he’d have his answer, and he wouldn’t have to awkwardly dodge and deflect the question every time it’s asked.  The problem is, he and Jack want to have a family (at least, _he_ does).  They used to talk circles about whether or not they should be parents, or could be parents.  How they’d manage to risk their lives every day solving the world’s problems and still raise a family.  They stopped having those conversations years ago, after Jack got made Strike Commander.

“It’s uh… it’s complicated.” He says at last.

Fareeha stares at him, shrugs, and clicks on the go-kart racing game in his folder. Gabriel relaxes his shoulders.  If only talking to Abbey was that easy.  He sits down in the chair across from his desk, takes out his holopad, and loads up the same game she’s playing.

“Wanna race?” He asks.

Fareeha narrows her eyes and grins. “You’re on.”

They’re about to round off their fifth race when Jack and Ana walk through the door.  Fareeha’s face lights up when she sees her Mother.  She bounds over to her and wraps her arms tightly around her waist. 

“Mama! I missed you so much!”

“Oh, I missed you too habibti.” Ana coos back to her.  A gentle smile forms on her face as she lovingly strokes her daughter’s hair.

“Hey Jack.”  Gabriel stares up at his husband, who looks especially weatherworn from what he imagines was a long chewing out from Petras.  Gabriel stands up to give him a quick peck on the lips, but he turns his face away so it lands on his cheek instead.

“Hey Gabe.” Jack breathes out.

Their coldness doesn’t go unnoticed by Ana.  She gives them both an inquisitive stare before looking back to her daughter. “I think it’s time for us to get going.  We’ve got a plane to catch.” Ana turns to him and smiles. “Thank you again Gabriel.”

He nods. “No problem Ana. It’s always a pleasure to hang out with Fareeha, even if she does cheat at go-kart racing.”

“Do not.” Fareeha giggles and sticks out her tongue at him.  He returns the gesture.  Out of the corner of his eye he sees Jack roll his eyes.

“So how’d the meeting go?” Gabriel asks after they’ve left.  In response Jack collapses into the spinning chair in front of his desk and lets out a loud, frustrated growl.

Gabriel raises an eyebrow. “That bad huh?”

“We were in there for three goddamn hours hashing out the same thing over and over again.” Jack throws back his head and massages his temples. “We were lucky I was able to talk Prime Minister Fa'alogo out of suing us.”

“I told you we shouldn’t get mixed up with private entities like Vishkar.” He says flatly.

“Thank you _again_ for the advice.  That’s only the hundredth time this week you’ve told me that.” Jack glares at him and lets out a hard sigh. “You know, it would have been nice if you’d been there.”

He frowns.  “What for?  Diplomacy’s your job, not mine.  Besides, Blackwatch wasn’t involved, so it’s not really my problem.”

“But you’re still a part of Overwatch, and this reflects badly on all of us, regardless of our involvement.” He gives Gabe a pointed stare.  “You were also the only founding member not present.”

He crosses his arms. “I didn’t realize it was mandatory for all the founding members to be there.”

“We’ve only been talking about it non-stop for the past three days.”

“Jack I head a department so secret most of the world doesn’t know it exists.  I can’t go parading myself in front of world leaders and powerful CEOs.”

“Blackwatch is what has to stay secret, Gabe. Not you.  I trust you’re smart enough to blow your own cover.” He pinches the bridge of his nose and shakes his head. “Geez, you say shit like that and yet you still wonder why the world’s starting to forget about you.”

Jack mutters it under his breath but it’s still deliberately loud enough for him to hear. 

Gabriel feels his heartbeat quicken and he tightens his grip on his forearms.  He’ll excuse Jack’s comment because he knows he’s stressed and didn’t really mean it, but that was a low blow.

These days he and Jack seem to be in a permanent state of disagreement.  Whenever they talk to each other it always goes like this.  Jack calls it “having discussions.”  He calls it arguing.  Their conversations might not be loud, angry shouting matches, but they’re too heated and spiteful to be sugarcoated away as “discussions.” 

It worries Gabriel that he doesn’t enjoy Jack’s presence the way he used to.  That he tenses up instead of perks up whenever he walks into the room.  That sometimes he’d rather spend the night without him than with him.  They’ve had plenty of disagreements in the past, but they were always over petty, insignificant things and they always made up quickly.  None of them ever lingered on like this. 

“So how were things with Fareeha this afternoon?” Jack asks after a moment’s silence passes between them.

“Good.  They were good.” Gabriel’s toes curl inside his shoes. “She uh… she was asking about why we don’t have any kids.”

Jack lets out a frustrated sigh and slams his hands on the desk. “Really Gabe? You want to talk about this _now_?”

“Well when is a good time for you?  Because every time I bring it up you immediately shut down the conversation.”

Jack groans.  “Didn’t you hear about Captain Ocampo?”

“No, what about her?”  Gabriel eyes him strangely.  He’s not sure how Captain Nicolette Ocampo, one of their old SEP fellows, holds any relevance to this discussion. 

Jack’s face pinches up.  “I got a message from her husband earlier this week.  She had a miscarriage.”

Gabriel’s stomach lurches.  “Oh, I didn’t know.  I’m so sorry to hear that.  Do they think it was because of SEP?”

Jack shrugs. “Last I heard they’re not sure.  The doctors still have to run some tests.”

SEP’s goal was to have a weapon to defend the world during the Omnic Crisis, not develop a sustainable race of super-humans.  In the dictionary-length waiver forms that he, Jack, and all the other testees had to sign there was fine print mentioning the experiments might affect their ability to bear healthy children.  It didn’t faze Gabriel much. He figured if he survived this long enough to have kids, he could always adopt. 

Gabriel takes a breath before breaking the silence.  “Okay, so we’ve established now is not the best time to talk about this, but I still think it’s something we should talk about.  And you have to admit, you shy away every time it’s brought up.”

Jack sighs. “I just don’t know what more there is to say.  My thoughts haven’t changed since the last time we talked about it.  We should wait until things slow down first.   It wouldn’t be fair to our future kids to raise them while we’re so busy.”

Gabriel rolls his eyes. “When have you ever wanted to wait for anything?” He pauses.  He looks down at Jack and bends over to cup his face gently in his hands.   “Jack, there might not be a war on anymore, but there is always going to be conflict in the world.  Things are never going to slow down. We’re just going to keep getting older.  Is this really how you want to spend the rest of your life?”

“I..” He says, and looks away from him. “I don’t have a choice.”

Gabriel presses his lips together, resisting the urge to sigh.  Damn his husband and his impossible hero complex. 

“Hey, I’m going to visit the gift shop to pick out a card for Captain Ocampo.  Do you want to come with me?”

Jack nods, and gets up from the spinning chair.  He doesn’t pull away when Gabriel reaches out for his hand.


	7. Petitioner Wishes the Court to Divide the Following Debts/Personal Property:

  1. **Checking/Savings account. Current balance: $4532.44. Petitioner asks to close account and split balance evenly between parties.**



Gabriel’s come to expect that Torbjörn’s omnic intelligence reports will always be a little off, but never before has he been so wildly inaccurate.  The few dozen omnics he reported to be using the enormous shopping centre in Addis Ababa as a fortress turned out to be a few hundred.  Gabriel’s original plan to sneak past enemy lines and take them by surprise went amiss the second he and Jack stepped into the abandoned mall.  The omnics’ motion sensors and infrared scanners locked onto them almost immediately, and they were forced to make a mad dash for the exit.

With their enhanced speed they’re able to outrun the horde of omnics, but they aren’t nearly equipped to take them all down alone.  As they charge forward Gabriel formulates a plan in his head to get them both out safely.  Prior to their mission he studied the mall’s layout, so he knows there’s an emergency exit at the end of the next corridor and down a few flights of stairs.  They just need to make it there without getting turned into Swiss cheese first.

Gabriel thinks Jack is following behind him until he turns around to see he’s taken cover behind a turned over table. He’s got a wicked grin on his face as he returns fire.  Gabriel scowls and lets out a loud groan.  Jack’s going to run out of ammo before he even makes a dent in their numbers. 

Sometimes he can’t believe he’s married to this reckless idiot.  

“Hey! What the-” Jack shouts as Gabriel yanks him up by the scruff of his jacket. He drags him around a corner and behind a display window of what looks to be an old bank. There’s an ATM in the lobby that’s broken down and stripped for parts, and posters advertising different financial services plastered all over the walls. 

Gabriel puts a finger to his lips. “Stay quiet and don’t move.  The glass will block the infrared, just be careful not to touch it.”

They watch and wait in petrified terror as the horde of OR-14s pass by their hiding spot. Their glowing red eyes scan the air for movement.  Gabriel’s afraid the sound of his own pounding heart will be enough to give them away.  Jack slowly grabs his hand, and holds him tight enough for Gabriel to feel the cool press of his wedding ring on his skin. He returns the gesture with a light squeeze and his pulse slows down just a little.

After a few moments that pass by like years the OR-14s pass them by without discovering their location.  Gabriel listens closely, not daring to move until he can no longer hear their footsteps clacking down the marble floor.

Jack lets out a relieved breath. “Shit, that was close.”

Gabriel scowls.  “I am going to strangle Torbjörn the next time we see him.  His supposedly accurate intel almost got us killed.  And you-” He lets go of Jack’s hand to point accusingly at him. “The fuck were you thinking trying to shoot down all those tin-cans single handedly?”

Jack bites his lip and scratches the back of his neck.  “I- I wasn’t thinking, really.  Good thing I’ve got you to save my sorry ass.” He smiles and claps him on the shoulder affectionately.  “What’s the plan now, boss?”

“Get the hell out of here and run til we get back to the ship.  From there we’ll call on reinforcements and get this place taken care of.”

Once they’re sure the coast is clear they make a run for it.  As they scurry down the corridor they keep passing by advertisements for that same bank they took cover in, like it was the only store in this entire mall.   Somehow, even in the heat of all this chaos, Gabriel’s reminded of something domestic he’d been meaning to talk to his husband about.

“Hey, how much money do you have?” He asks. 

“Huh?” Jack asks, turning to stare at him with a dumbfounded expression.

“How much money do you have?  Like, in your bank account?”

“I dunno, a couple hundred dollars maybe?”

“How many couple hundred dollars?”

“I don’t know? What the fuck does it matter?” Jack hisses at him as they fly down the narrow staircase that leads to the exit. 

“Well I’ve been thinking, since we’re married now we need to combine our bank accounts. And I saw this –”

“Duck!” Jack shouts, and shoves him away before he runs headfirst into a low hanging iron beam. 

“Woah, thanks.” He says, and once he’s regained their footing he continues.  “I saw this ad for SunPacific Bank that said if you open a savings account with a $1000 deposit they’ll throw in a free laser coffeemaker.”

“Really?  I’ve always wanted one of those things.  I’m so sick of the shitty stuff they brew up at HQ.”

“I’ve got about seven hundred fifty bucks saved up.  Think you can cover the rest?” Gabriel asks.

“Probably, yeah.”

They reach the exit at the bottom of the stairwell.  Gabriel kicks down the door with a flourish and bright sunlight streams in.  He smiles as he looks off into the distance. “I’ll race you back to the ship.  Last one back has to file the post-mission paperwork?”

Jack smirks at him.  “You’re on, Babe.”

 

* * *

 

  1. **Residence: 1764 Grasshopper Lane, Grand Junction, CO 80501. Petitioner asks to sell house and split profit evenly between parties.**



Instead of disbanding after the war, Overwatch set out with a new mission statement to become a major global peacekeeping force.  The organization Gabriel poured his heart and soul into to build from the ground up has a new chance at making a difference in the world, and his heart is overflowing with pride. 

Major renovations are already underway to refurbish the Swiss HQ, and the construction of smaller bases, Watchpoints they’re calling them, have sprouted up all over the globe.  Watchpoint: Tasmania, Gibraltar, and Okinawa are nearly complete, and today marks the beginning of construction on Watchpoint: Grand Mesa, the very first of hopefully many US Watchpoints.

Jack, Gabriel, and a few other Overwatch officials have all gathered on site for the groundbreaking ceremony.  They stand on stage behind the newly appointed director, a tall, imposing man by the name of Petras, as he delivers an address to the crowd of journalists and civilians.  Gabriel tries to pay attention, but finds himself drifting off after only a few minutes.  His eyelids feel heavy, and if he weren’t standing he’s certain he would fall asleep.

Petras’ speech is met with a mild applause from the audience.  He turns around to motion at Jack and Gabriel and they join him at the podium to pose for a few photos.  Director Petras throws his arms around both of them and beams at the cameras.  Jack wears his usual charming grin while Gabriel stretches his mouth wide and hopes he doesn’t look like someone’s holding a rotten onion under his nose.  His friends love to tease him because he always looks like a surly, hardass who doesn’t know how to have fun in photos, which is pretty much in stark contrast to his actual personality.

The director opens up a sturdy, black case next to him to reveal a golden shovel.  He hands it to Jack, who in turn hands it to him, and together the two of them press it into the earth.

After the ceremony they have a few hours to kill before their next flight leaves, so they wander through the streets of downtown Grand Junction, discreetly holding hands as they peer into shop windows.  Their strolling eventually leads them to an old-fashioned ice cream parlor.  The scent of freshly made waffle cones comes wafting through the open door, and they’re reminded they haven’t eaten anything since their light lunch before the ceremony.  They each order a sundae piled high with chocolate syrup and whipped cream, and take a seat at a wrought iron table on the patio outside. 

“Y’know, this town is kind of cute.” Jack says, holding his plastic spoon idly in his mouth and staring off at the mountains in the distance. “Wish we could stick around a little longer before we leave for- wait, _where_ are we headed for again?”

“DC for a Congressional hearing, and the unveiling of the new war memorial in the National Mall.” Gabriel says as he stirs his melting chocolate ice cream.  “Then Bloomington for your Mom’s family reunion thing, then New York to meet with the UN and catch the Mets/Cardinals game if we can spare the time, then it’s back to business at HQ.”

Jack whistles.  “And we’re supposed to cram all that into three days?  I thought with the Crisis over things would slow down, not speed up.”

“I know right?   I was hoping we could finally settle down.” Gabriel looks down at his hands and fidgets with his spoon. “Y’know, buy a house, maybe start thinking about kids?” 

“And drive them around to soccer practice and violin lessons in our minivan?” Jack laughs. “I don’t think the domestic lifestyle suits us, Gabe.”

“Yeah, right.” He laughs half-heartedly and frowns into his lap.  Maybe he doesn’t yearn for something so stereotypical, but he doesn’t want to devote his entire future to nothing but solving the world’s problems either.  He wants to have both.  A family and a career.  And it seems he was wrong about Jack being on the same page.

“I do agree with you on one thing though.” Jack says with a mouthful of ice cream.  He swallows.  “We need to get a place of our own.  I’m sick of hotel hopping and using my parent’s house as a civilian address.  Question is, where in this big old country should we settle down?”

“How about Indiana?” Gabriel teases.

Jack guffaws. “Fuck no.”

“Why not?  We could get a little farmhouse right next to your parents.  You know they’d love that.”

“No, no, we are absolutely not doing that.” Jack says in between bouts of joyful laughter. “What about LA? I’d love to have a movie star for a next door neighbor.”

Gabriel scoffs. “You say that like we’re not already kind of celebrities.”

“Well we’d also be closer to your Sister and Brother-in-law.”

“Ha! Not if we’re living in Beverly Hills by the movie stars we aren’t.” Gabriel eats a spoonful of ice cream and looks out at the snowcapped mountains that dominate the skyline.  “Why not live here in Grand Junction?  You just said yourself it seems like a cute town.”

“I mean yeah but - are you sure you want to live so close to where we work?”

“Hey, it means less of a commute. Which will come in handy once Petras makes you Strike Commander.” Gabriel says.  He smiles and reaches across the table to nudge his hand affectionately.

Jack doesn’t register his touch.  He just stares at him as though he spoken a language he can’t understand. “Me?  Strike Commander?  You’re kidding, _right_?”

“No, of course not.” Gabriel looks at him with knit eyebrows.  Jack has to know, or at least suspect.  Gabriel can see it plain as day.  The way Petras and the other suits have been so warm and friendly with him.  How they’re always asking for his opinion and input during the peace negotiations, and ignoring him as though he’s not in the room. 

“I- well- what about you?” Jack asks.

“What about me?”

“You were commander during the Omnic Crisis.  You’re pretty much the whole reason the war is over.  You’re so much more qualified than me and-”

Gabriel cuts him off. “They aren’t going to ask me, Jack.”

“What?  Sure they are.  They’d be crazy not to.”

Gabriel shakes his head. “I think I’ve pissed off too many important people to even be considered at this point.  Besides, I’m not the type of person they’re looking for.”

“What do you mean by that?”  Jack asks.

Gabriel looks down, fiddles with his spoon, and doesn't respond.  During the war Overwatch could act bolder, be more experimental with their tactics, all without garnering much criticism.  Now everyone’s eyes are on them as they try to piece the world back together from the Crisis that tore it apart.  The suits in charge want their Strike Commander to be outwardly optimistic and approachable.  Someone who will smile for the cameras and play nice with the diplomats.  Someone the world will trust without having to crack through their tough outer shell first.

Gabriel doesn’t have Jack’s natural charm and charisma.  He’s shy and guarded around strangers, and he’s barely fumbled through every public address he’s ever had to give.  As much as he wants to be that affable guy everyone immediately falls in love with, he can’t be.  And the crushing truth of it all makes his bones ache.

“I mean, they want to switch things up a bit.  Y’know, make a fresh start and all.”

“I guess that makes sense, kinda, but that’s still not fair to you.  After all the blood, sweat, and tears you put into Overwatch, you deserve the top spot.  Plus, I mean, what are people going to think if I, a white guy, takes a job that was supposed to go to a Latino man?”

Gabriel frowns down into his hands, because of course _that_ thought had occurred to him too.

Jack slams his hands down on the table, rattling both their empty sundaes dishes.  “You know what, if they offer it to me, I’ll just turn them down.  I’ll stare Petras square in the eye and say _‘Thank you sir, but I’m not interested.’_ ”

Gabriel sighs and shakes his head.  “Jack, don’t be an idiot.  You don’t need to turn it down to defend my honor, or whatever.  When Petras asks you, say yes.  I’ll be fine.  It’s not like they’re kicking me out of Overwatch, they’re just going to give me a different job.  And I know you’ll make a fantastic Strike Commander.”  

Jack stares at him with a sheepish grin.  There’s a boyish look in his eyes and a dollop of chocolate syrup on his nose. 

“You really think so?”

“Yeah, I do.”

He tries not to sound bitter.

 

* * *

 

  1. **Roger, 10 year old Old English Sheepdog mix. Petitioner asks for sole ownership.**



Gabriel knows that extremist groups like Talon don’t throw around empty threats.  When they extort you for money or intel you either give them what they want, or you negotiate.  Ignoring their demands completely is how situations like this happen.

The scene of the explosion is complete chaos.  Ecopoint: Kodiak Island is almost entirely in ruins.  Gabriel winces at all the dust and smoke floating in the air. Overwatch Agents and first responders dash around like mad helping the injured and recovering what they can from the file cabinets and computers that haven’t been destroyed.

Gabriel shuffles around awkwardly in the blue and gold uniform.  It’s one of Jack’s spares.  Even though they’re the same size it still feels like skin that doesn’t fit him right. This is probably the first times since the Crisis he’s been asked to step out of the shadows to publically assist Overwatch.  He can’t parade around in his Blackwatch uniform.  It’s especially important to hold up Overwatch’s wholesome image when they’re in crisis mode. 

“Excuse me!  Sir excuse me!” He hears a man’s voice call from behind him.  Gabriel turns around, thinking it’s a victim in need of assistance, but instead he has a microphone shoved in his face.  His pulse quickens and his whole body tenses up as he stares at the half dozen cameras now pointed directly at his face.

“Do you know what was behind the explosion?  Was it accidental or was it caused by outside forces?”

He gives the reporters a stern look and repeats the stock phrase he was given if anyone hounded him for questions.  “Strike Commander Morrison will be making an official statement this evening.  I have no further comment at this time.”

 “But-”  Before the reporter can finish his question Gabriel swats the microphone away from his face, and returns back to his job.

After nearly an hour of assisting with the rescue effort, with the sun hanging low in the sky, Gabriel comes across Jack standing alone on the edge of all the destruction.  His face is blank and emotionless, and the stress lines and crow’s feet around his eyes are more pronounced than ever.  He’s not helping the rescue efforts, just watching everything unfold in a dazed, stupor.

It was Jack’s decision to call Talon’s bluff.  He didn’t give in to their demands and decided to simply keep a closer eye on things, thinking if Talon tried anything he’d know.  As evidenced by the rubble surrounding them, it didn’t go in their favor.

Gabriel warned him repeatedly that this was the wrong course of action.  He pleaded with him to let him try talking to Talon.  But Jack always frowned and said that his hands were tied.  If he had just let go of his pride and let him do his job, maybe this tragedy could have been prevented.

Gabriel runs through versions of something comforting to say in his head.  _‘Everything’s going to be okay.’_   It probably isn’t going to be _._   _‘It’s not your fault.’_  No, it is. _‘You did the best you could’_.  Maybe, but if he was in charge he could have handled it a whole lot better.

“Things could have been worse.” Gabriel says as sincerely as he can.

“How?” Jack replies with a hollow, coldness in his voice.  He doesn’t look at him.

Gabriel pauses a moment.  He tries to think of a response, but comes up dry.  “Come on, there’s press all over the place, you don’t want them to catch you not helping right?”  He says in lieu of an answer.

Jack follows him back into the destruction and together they scour the remains for any sign of life.  As they go through what looks to be an old test chamber Gabriel thinks he hears a faint whimper coming from beneath a pile of rubble.  He squats down to take a look and lets out a small gasp at what he finds. Beneath the ashes is a tiny puppy that looks to only be a few weeks old. 

He claws through the rest of the rubble to see if its mother is around, but he doesn’t find any sign of her.  The puppy squirms and whines, and looks desperately cold.  With gentle, untrembling hands Gabriel picks up the puppy from the wreckage.  It’s white and black fur is matted, but it looks up at him with a dopey grin and big, black eyes.

“Jack!” He calls. “Come here!”

Jack turns around and looks at him.  He points at the puppy in his arms and tilts his head in confusion. “Where did you find-”

Before he can finish his sentence, Gabriel thrusts the puppy toward Jack.  He takes the dog and cradles it close to his chest.  A soft smile spreads across his face. “Well hey there little guy.” Jack coos.

Jack doesn’t take his eyes off the puppy as they head over to the makeshift first aid station.  There Jack finds a towel and swaddles the puppy in warmth.  Gabriel watches him for a few minutes as he bounces the dog in his arms and whispers gentle, loving words into its ear.

“Jack, we should probably get back to the rescue effort.” Gabriel says. “Let’s see if there’s any more survivors.”

“No. I want to stay here with him.”  He pauses a moment.  He finally takes his eyes away from the dog and looks up at him.  “And after all of this is through I think I want to adopt him.”

Gabriel purses his lips.  He’d meant for this to be a way to cheer him up.  As much as he pities the poor, orphaned puppy, they aren’t qualified to raise it. “Jack we can’t-”

“Gabe, please.”  There’s a pleading look in his eyes, and Gabriel hesitates.  He decides that with everything that happened today, plus all their arguments they’ve had over the past few months, he can’t deny Jack the one thing that’s made him smile in a very long time. 

“We’ll talk about it later okay?” He says. 

Jack nods, and Gabriel leaves them both behind to continue on with the rescue effort.

 

* * *

 

  1. **Black four door sedan. Petitioner asks to give sole ownership to Respondent.**



Jack and Gabriel bought their first car together after the war.  A solar-powered hatchback with a sunroof and leather seats. Old Reliable, Gabriel had grown fond of calling it.  Even when everything else was falling apart, their holopads, their dishwasher their marriage, they could still depend on Old Reliable. 

At least they could until about two weeks ago.

When Gabriel returns home from the Swiss HQ he finds the garage empty and a note from Jack on their kitchen countertop reading ‘ _Gabe: The car broke down.  Please buy a new one. Blue, preferably. - Jack  PS: Stop smoking in the house.  Or at least clean out your ashtray so I can’t catch you doing it._ ’

Gabriel groans loudly and calls a cab to drive him back into town. Before he leaves he lights up a cigarette and scrawls out a note to Jack in response saying: _‘You couldn’t have told me this in person?’_

Gabriel wishes buying a car was as easy and quick as ordering a burger at In-N-Out. He’d blissfully forgotten how arduous and convoluted the whole process is.  He can’t believe he has to spend his entire day haggling with car salespeople because his idiot husband broke their car and couldn’t be bothered to replace it.

When he walks into the dealership he knows exactly what kind of car he wants (A Mercedes E600, the same model Blackwatch uses), that he wants to buy and not lease, and that he wants it in black (because it looks a helluva lot better than blue and it screams ‘fuck you’ to Jack).  The sales people ignore his directness, and he’s forced to waste his time looking at the other models, hear sales pitches about all their great features, and take them out for a test drive.

When it finally comes time to sign the papers and purchase the car it takes another year to get through all the pricing options and apply for the right financing.  He has to explain at least three times that no, he doesn’t have an old car to trade in because it’s probably rusting in a junkyard somewhere.

“Congrats Mr. Reyes.  Your financing has been approved.  Now all you have to do is sign.” Hannah, the sales woman taking care of him, says with a grin.  With her baby face and big saucer eyes, she barely looks old enough to be out of high school.  It’s enough to make him feel ancient.

Hannah slides over the paperwork for him to read.  She’s added colorful markers in all the places he has to initial and sign.  As Gabriel looks over the fine print he doesn't see Jack’s name anywhere, and it dawns on him that’s probably because he failed to mention Jack at all.

He hisses under his breath. “Ah shit.  I forgot to ask you to add my husband’s name to the title.”

“Oh no Mr. Reyes, it’s my fault for not offering first. It’s just- I didn’t realize - usually couples shop together for-” A blush creeps across her face and she stops talking. She turns back to her holopad.  “I’ll uh…draft up some new papers for you.  What’s your husband’s name?”

“John Morrison.”

Her rapid-fire typing ceases and she stares at him with an awestruck expression.  “He’s not _the_ John Morrison, is he?” She asks. “I’ve heard rumors that he lives around here somewhere.”

Gabriel grimaces and clenches his fists into tight balls.  Of course it’s Jack that’s got her all starry eyed.  He wonders if she even knows who he is.  Has his name been erased from history completely?

He frowns at her. “No kid, it’s just a coincidence.”


	8. This Marriage Has Suffered an Irretrievable Breakdown and Should Be Dissolved.

Gabriel streams Overwatch’s weekly press conference on his spare monitor.  It’s supposed to just be on as background noise while he works, but he keeps finding himself distracted by it.  Which must speak volumes on how much he doesn’t want to finish this interrogation report.  Usually these press conferences bore him to death.  He’s got better things to do than listen to a rehash of news he already knows, except this time with an uplifting spin and often undeserved self- flattery. 

During Overwatch’s early days Gabriel used to watch in hopes that his name might get mentioned.  Or that even if Blackwatch couldn’t be directly called out, their contributions and hard work would be thanked in front of the entire world.

He’s long since stopped doing that.

On the screen Jack stands behind a glossy, silver podium with the Overwatch insignia embossed on the front.  His hair is slicked back, his face clean shaven, and he’s wearing a freshly pressed suit tailored to fit him perfectly.  It’s a far cry from yesterday when Gabriel saw him fresh from his mission in Kazakhstan.  He had cement dust in his hair, his whole body was caked in mud, and there was a large, bloodstained bandage wrapped around his left thigh.

Gabriel will give him one thing, it’s not easy to stand in front of a room full of journalists and answer tough question after tough question, but somehow Jack always knows the right thing to say.  And even more unbelievably, he actually seems to enjoy doing it. He always makes his best attempt to attend these things personally.  Overwatch has only had to call on their Press Secretary to stand in for him a handful of times.

It’s a far cry from when Gabriel was in charge during the Omnic Crisis.  Anxiety made him avoid reporters wherever he could, and when he couldn’t he put up walls no one could see him falling to pieces internally. 

Jack’s all smiles for the cameras, as usual.  Gabriel can tell by the crinkles around his eyes that he’s being genuine.  This is one of those rare occasions where he doesn’t have bad news to deliver.  The rescue mission in Kazakhstan was executed perfectly.  Overwatch got all 45 hostages out unharmed and with only minimal damage done to the surrounding area.  It was just the feel-good story they needed after a few brushes with bad publicity.  For the past few days the news had been saturated with nothing but footage of the assailant being led away in handcuffs and victims tearfully being reunited with their loved ones. 

“Yes, the perpetrator is in our custody and we are questioning him to see what he knows.” Jack says with a grin to a reporter in the front row. “We’re confident he has valuable information on the organization behind the attack.”

Gabriel snorts out a laugh.  He could tell just by looking at the young, baby-faced assailant that he was a low-level goon who knew absolutely nothing of value.  The “thorough interrogation” he did on him this morning was merely for shits and giggles.

“Next question.” Jack points to a journalist in the back row with electric blue hair and horn-rimmed glasses.  She stands up and flashes him a toothy, white smile.

“Yes, Cynthia Kincaid, Scoop Magazine.  Strike Commander, I can’t help but notice you’re not wearing your wedding ring.”

The pen Gabriel’s holding snaps apart with a soft crack.  Thick, black ink drips out into his hand and onto the papers on his desk.  He can feel the sharp, plastic shards stinging his skin, but he doesn’t dare tear his eyes away from the monitor.

Jack takes his hands off the podium and clasps them behind his back, but he moves too slowly.  The image of his bare left hand is already seared into his memory.  The journalists share polite chuckles amongst themselves, but Jack’s face has gone ghostly pale.  He stares up over the reporter’s heads, looking dazed and doe-eyed at something in the distance.  He’s always had a knack for juggling tough questions without letting any hint of emotion slip through. This is the first time Gabriel’s seen him look completely vulnerable.

Cynthia sticks her recording device out further.  “We’re all dying to know Commander, is Mrs. Morrison still in the picture, or should we keep you in mind for Scoop’s annual list of the world’s sexiest, eligible bachelors?”

“I- um- there is no Mrs. Morrison.” Jack murmurs awkwardly to himself, though the microphone picks up every word as though he’s shouted it.  “I mean uh- he didn’t take my last name.”

He and Jack agreed long ago, back when they were on the brink of becoming publicly known figures, that they should keep their marriage something of a secret.  They only told the people nearest and dearest to them.  To most of the world Strike Commander Morrison is openly married, and openly bisexual (and quick to correct anyone who gets that wrong), but he was tight-lipped on any further details.  Gabriel thinks this is the first time he’s ever even used a pronoun to describe him.

He used to find it amusing when Jack got asked questions about his love life, which given his conventionally good looks happened quite a bit.  He’d always say he was happily married to “my better half” or “the love of my life” or something equally dopey and romantic.  The reporters had no idea his husband was just a few feet away, trying to conceal the burgeoning smile on his face.  Nowadays Jack just says he’s taken and his spouse’s identity is “Nothing you need to know about.”  Gabriel’s surprised he doesn’t go to the extra effort of sticking up just his ring finger, mock flipping off the journalists who ask.

Though that approach wouldn’t work today, considering _he isn’t wearing his ring_.

Jack clears his throat, straightens his tie, and smiles a nervous smile at his audience. “I recently misplaced my wedding ring, but I am still married and uh... that’s all I have to say about my personal life. Now, if there are any questions about the rescue mission I am more than happy to answer them.”

Gabriel’s not sure how much longer the press conference continues on  He turns it off. He cleans up the spilled ink on his desk and starts his work over, this time with his music library playing as a soundtrack in the background.  It’s hours later when he hears the familiar sound of Jack’s footsteps ambling down the hallway.  The door to his office opens and shuts, and Gabriel gets up from his desk.

Jack frowns at him as he barges into his office.  He sits slouched behind his desk and he looks exhausted, like he could fall asleep right now here in his office chair.  His suit jacket lies in a crumpled heap on the floor beside his desk and his striped blue tie hangs loosely around his neck. 

“What do you want Gabe?” He asks dully.

“Where’s your ring?”

For a moment Jack looks taken aback.  Gabriel can see the worry in his eyes, but his face quickly returns to its annoyed scowl.

“You watched the press conference didn’t you?” He asks.

Gabriel stares pointedly at him.  “That’s not an answer.”

Jack rolls his eyes at him and waits a moment before answering. “It fell off during the mission.  I would have gone to look for it but I didn’t even realize it was missing until I was on the plane back to HQ.”  Jack shifts his gaze away, back down at his desk.  “I’m sorry.  Look, I already feel bad enough about losing it, you don’t need to make me feel worse by _staring at me like that._ ”

His comment pulls the corners of Gabriel’s lips down even further.  “Jack, I’m not trying to make you feel bad about losing the ring.  Hell, I’m not even mad that you lost it.”

“Really?” Jack says, studying him incredulously with furrowed brows.

“No.” He says and chuckles coldly.  “I’m mad that you didn’t tell me about it, and I had to find out by watching a fucking press conference.”

Jack’s silent a moment. He picks up a pen and starts to tap it rhythmically on his desk.

“I was going to tell you.” He says.

“Oh? When?”

“When were you going to let me?” He asks stiffly.  “I tried to yesterday, but you could only stand to talk to me for two minutes before you had to run off and do top-secret Blackwatch work which according to you, didn’t concern me.”

Gabriel stares at him, flummoxed.  He remembers how quickly he had dismissed Jack’s concerns yesterday, and he feels his cheeks burn.  “You- you could have said it was important.”

Jack scoffs coldly. “Right, that definitely would have changed your mind.”

“Then you could have tried telling me again later!”

“I was going to after the press conference. How was I supposed to know some eagle-eyed reporter would notice before I got the chance to say anything?”  Jack leans back in his chair. “Gabe, I said I was sorry.  Let’s just forgive and forget.  We can always buy another ring.  Didn’t we say we were going to do that anyway?”

Gabriel lets out a low groan from the back of his throat. “Christ Jack, I already told you it’s not about the ring!” 

“Then what _is_ this about Gabe?”

“It’s that you don’t talk to me anymore!” He says, shouting it louder than he meant to. “Or – or you just do things without telling me.  Like how instead of _telling_ me you want to separate our finances, you just go and open up your own damn bank account.  Or instead of _telling_ me you don’t want to sleep in the same bed anymore, you move all your things into the spare bedroom.  Or –”

“Gabe I get it okay!  You don’t need to list out every single time you think I screwed up.”

“No, you don’t get it Jack!  Or else you wouldn’t be doing it all the damn time.” He scoffs. “God, why is it so hard for you to communicate every once and a while?”

Jack gives him a cold stare.  “Well it’s hard to talk to you when you never make yourself available for a conversation.”

“That’s not true.” He says quickly.

“Do you remember how we used to go out to a nice restaurant in town on the weekends? I’ve asked you to dinner every Saturday we’ve both been on base for the past _year_ , and you’ve never once been able to find the time.”

Gabriel narrows his eyes at him, and clenches his fists tightly at his side.  “Well I’m sorry I can’t just drop everything to go on dates with you.”

“It’s not just that.  You think I haven’t noticed that you avoid me in the mess hall, or that you don’t sit next to me on plane rides anymore?  And where are you every morning when I go for my run?  We used to do that together, but one day you just stopped showing up.”  Jack scoffs, and looks at him with an icy gleam in his eyes. “You only want to talk to me when it’s on your terms.  Which usually means you’re mad at me, or you want to blame me for something.” 

“It’s not- I don’t always-” Gabriel stammers, trying to think of something to say to defend himself.  The problem is, Jack isn’t _wrong._   He can’t remember the last time he tried to have a normal, pleasant chat with him. 

Gabriel lets out a low, guttural groan. “At least I’m making an attempt to fix things. Do you think avoiding our problems is going to fix them?”

“No!  It’s just - ugh!” Jack leans back in his chair and tugs at his hair. “Focusing only on the negative isn’t healthy either, Gabe.  It’s exhausting!  I don’t have the energy to deal with you and our problems on top of all the stress and pressure on me from my job.”

Gabriel sneers at him. “I didn’t realize being Petras’ lap dog was so taxing.  Remember when you had a spine and didn’t just follow someone else’s orders?”

Jack stands up from his chair and slams his hands down on his desk. His face has turned an ugly red. “Well I’m sorry I can’t just run around doing whatever the hell I want like you can.  Unlike you there are people I actually have to answer to.”

“Right, I forgot, you have that boy scout reputation to uphold. Tell me again, are you Overwatch’s Strike Commander or just its poster boy?”

Jack points at his office door with so much force his whole arm trembles. “Get. Out.”

“Fine, but before I go.” He slides his own ring off his finger, and with all of his fury and rage he slams it down on his desk. “Since you care so much about having a ring, you can take mine.”

“Gabe!” Jack calls after him as he turns in a huff to go.  Gabriel doesn’t turn around.

When he slams the door to Jack’s office behind him he comes face-to-face with a crowd of people frozen in place.  Ana, Reinhardt, Jesse, Angela, and about a dozen others stare at him with concerned, almost scared expressions.  It’s immediately evident to him that they’ve heard _everything_.  Gabriel feels his cheeks redden, and he pulls his beanie down over his ears.

“Don’t you people have work to do?” He mumbles, trying not to raise his voice.  This seems to take the gawkers out of their trance, and most of them scurry off down the hallway.  Only those closest to him remain. 

“Gabriel, are you alright?” Ana reaches out with a gentle hand to caress his shoulder.  He shoves her away.

“I’m fine.”  He says, turning himself away from his friends.  He sticks his hands in his pockets and keeps his head down as he ambles back to his office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If this chapter made you too sad [enjoy this video of kittens getting a bath.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjAdSuy2io4&t=756s)


	9. I Affirm Under the Penalties of Perjury That the Foregoing Representations Are True.

The divorce document is three pages long.  Two and a half really.  Filling them out doesn’t require much effort on Gabriel’s part beyond ticking off checkboxes and rehashing what Jack’s already written.  But it takes him an obscenely long time to work through it.  He keeps getting bogged down and side-tracked by memories he hasn’t allowed himself to think about in years.  All the bitterness and hostility between them, especially the stuff at the end, seeps out from the darker parts of his mind and . 

But his memories aren’t all bad. He’s almost forgotten how over-the-moon Jack used to make. How unstoppable and alive he felt whenever they were together.  It’s almost a shame they couldn’t make things work.

Gabriel’s eyes bore holes into the line at the bottom of the final page.  The form is almost complete.  The blanks are filled and the boxes are checked.  The i’s dotted and t’s crossed. Except for one thing.

All he has left to do is sign his name.

His pen hovers a few inches above the paper, and his hand poised to write. But strangely, frustratingly, he finds himself hesitant to leave the final mark.  He tightens his grip on his pen and groans through clenched teeth.

This shouldn’t be so difficult.  He shouldn’t have this uncomfortable, bittersweet feeling forming in his gut about his marriage coming to a permanent end. Because this _isn’t_ the end.  It’s the start of a long, drawn out process.  Once he signs he’ll file the papers with the Indiana state court.  The court will review their case, which according to the form will take “No less than 60 days”. Gabriel, holding little faith in the speed of the legal system, expects it to take longer. 

And who knows what can happen while they wait for the court?  Maybe Jack will demand money for the years’ worth of mortgage payments on the house he apparently still owns.  Or maybe he’ll change his mind.  Get cold feet and scrap the whole thing, only to try again in a few years.

Once the court finishes deliberating they’ll set a final hearing date and he’ll have to sign more documents in front of a judge. _In person._   The court doesn’t allow virtual final hearings.  Meaning he’ll have to take time off work and haul ass to Cornfieldville just to sign some fucking papers. 

Then once all of that’s done, it will be over.  He and Jack will officially be divorced.

Gabriel takes a sharp breath in, and before he can exhale he scrawls out his signature on the line.

He glances at the clock on his computer screen.  It’s almost midnight.  By now most of HQ has shut down and gone to sleep.  Gabriel’s certain that Jack is still in his office burning away at the midnight oil. 

SEP left them both needing less rest than the average person.  Gabriel is fine with four hours of sleep plus two cups of coffee.  Anything less and he’s lethargic, yawning, mess for the day.  Jack is lucky to get even three hours of sleep from all his overwork and stress.

Gabriel remembers his restlessness.  How he would toss and turn for hours on end and wake up in a cold sweat from his nightmares.  Gabriel gets that way too on occasion.  Therapy helps.  Sleeping pills help when it doesn’t.  But for whatever reason it always took a bigger toll on Jack.  There were nights where he couldn’t fall asleep unless Gabriel was there for him to spoon.  He wonders for the first time what Jack does now.

Gabriel crosses the hall and knocks on the door to Jack’s office.  He can see a sliver of light shining through the crack underneath the door, and can hear him typing on his keyboard.

“Just a sec Gabe.” Jack says, and a moment later the door slides open.

Jack’s office smells faintly of cigarettes, which strikes Gabriel as odd because Jack doesn’t smoke.  He remembers that Jesse was here a few hours ago, probably puffing away on a cigar as usual.  There’s stack of résumés on Jack’s desk, identical to the one back in his office.  Not one paper is out of place.  It’s somehow comforting to know Jack hasn’t bothered with them either.

Jack sits at his desk, staring cross eyed at the wall of news articles plastered on his giant projector screen.  Headlines like _“Protest Outside Watchpoint: Grand Mesa Demanding Jack Morrison’s Resignation Reaches 54th Day.”_ and _“Disaster in Dorado: Has Overwatch Outlived its Usefulness?”_ line the wall in bold, neon print.  

Gabriel studies the shelf in the opposite corner, lined with photographs from decades past. He’s never paid much mind during his most recent visits.  He doesn’t stop in often, and when he does he wants to get in and out. 

Displayed most prominently is a photo of him, Ana, and Jack taken after one of their first missions together.  There’s a few others, some of Jack alone, some with friends.  All from when he was still young, before his hair turned grey and his heart hardened. Missing is the photo taken outside the Fort Lauderdale courthouse.   Their arms slung around each other, grinning broadly, and holding up their new marriage certificate to the camera.

“It’s late.” Jack says, turning away from the wall of criticism to look at him.

“Touché.”  Gabriel quips. He walks over to Jack’s desk. It only takes a few steps since his office is the size of a broom closet, and plops the manila envelope down in front of him.

Jack looks down at the envelope, then back up at him.  “What’s this?” 

“The divorce papers you wanted me to fill out.”

A flash of recognition crosses his face, and he gives Gabriel a hard stare.  “You’re supposed to file this with the court directly.  Not dump it onto me to do for you.”

“Yeah, well you’re the one who filed in the first place.  Shouldn’t this be your responsibility?”

“Fine.  I’ll send you the bill for the postage.” He takes the envelope and tosses it into a metal basket labeled ‘outgoing mail’.  “Now was there something else you needed, Gabe?”

Gabriel nods.  There’s more he wants, _needs_ , to talk about.  He and Jack have never had a problem maintaining a cool, working relationship.  Even during their roughest patches they always kept their marital problems from bleeding over into their work.  They are professionals, after all.  Which means since their separation they’ve danced around discussing anything more personal than “How are you today?”.  It’s time they changed that.

But Jack’s office feels like the wrong place to have this discussion.  The room is too small.  Too cramped.  The ghosts of too many arguments past linger in the air.

“Want to go for a walk?” Gabriel asks.

Jack nods, and he doesn’t say anything as he grabs the jacket draped over the back of his chair.

The Headquarters feels like a different place at night.  During the day the campus hums with energy and life.  Hundreds of people buzz around the grounds chatting to one another and traveling to where they need to go. Like bees circling a hive.  At night the Headquarters is still alive, but it’s a softer, less frantic energy. Everything seems to have slowed down.  Gabriel likes how easy it is to relax into the quietness.

A wide, yellow brick path runs along the outside perimeter.  During the day tour guides use it to show around civilians, and agents stroll along it during their downtime.  This is Gabriel’s go to place when he needs to clear his head. 

The path is heated so the snow melts off in the winter, and at night it’s lit by motion sensors.  Lights planted along the path illuminate bright blue as they walk by and flicker off behind them as they pass.

He and Jack have all the space in the world, but they walk shoulder to shoulder with only a few inches space separating them.  Close enough for their hands to brush against each other.  The first time it happens Gabriel apologizes, the second, third, and beyond he doesn’t.  It occurs to him this is the closest they’ve come to touching in years.

“So, did you find the terms agreeable?” Jack asks.

He nods.  “They were fine.  Well, except that I sold the car a few years ago.  I didn’t get much for it, but what I did I put in the savings account.  Figured you’d use it for the mortgage or whatever.” He turns to him, and gives him a soft expression.  “Do I owe you anything for that?”

Jack shakes his head.  “The money’s not important.”

There’s a chill in the air, and the slightest mist of rain drizzles down on them.  Gabriel feels tiny raindrops peppering his body. He zips his sweatshirt up to his collarbone and buries his hands in his pockets.

“Did you really think I’d go after Roger?” He blurts it more than he says it.

Jack looks away from him, and scratches the back of his neck.  “No, not really.  I don’t know.  I just - I wanted to cover all my bases.”

“In case I requested sole possession of him out of spite or something?” He snorts out a harsh laugh. “I don’t want your dog Jack.”

“Our dog, Gabe.”

“Roger was always more yours than mine.”

“You were the one who rescued him though.” Jack nudges his arm lightly. “He misses you Gabe.  I can tell by the way he sniffs my suitcase every time I come home to visit. He probably wonders why he hasn’t seen you in years.”

A soft smile spreads across Gabriel’s face.  “How is Roger anyway?”

“Old.” Jack says.  A wistful grin graces his lips. “He’s gone nearly blind from cataracts.  But he still acts like he’s a puppy.  He always wanting to go on walks and play fetch.  I think he’s got more energy than me sometimes.”

“And how’s your Dad?” Gabriel asks.

Jack shrugs.  “He says he’s fine, but I worry about him.  He’s all alone with only Roger and some farming bots for company.  I keep telling him we should sell the farm and move to Bloomington, but he’s stubborn like that.” Jack shrugs.  He reaches up to wipe away the raindrops on his forehead, and turns to look at him.  “What about your family?”

“They’re good." Gabriel says.  "Micaela and Sebastian just got back from Jamaica.  Maya got accepted into Stanford for med school.  And Adrian’s getting married, making him the first of Micaela’s kids to tie the knot.”

Jack’s eyes widen and he comes to an abrupt halt. “What?  No way, he can’t possibly be old enough.”  He holds up his hands to count on his fingers.  Gabriel takes his hands out of his pockets and places them on top of his.

“I’ll save you the trouble.  He’s 19.  Just had his birthday last month.”

"Damn, that's still so young."  Jack whispers under his breath.  Slowly, deliberately, he laces his fingers between Gabriel’s.  His skin is warm and calloused, exactly like in his memories. "That’s how old you were when we met, remember?”

Gabriel nods.  He looks down at their interlocked hands. “Of course I remember.”

“Are you sure he’s not rushing into it?”

He lets out a soft chuckle. “You sound like my sister. She thinks he’s making a huge mistake.  But I say if he wants to do it, let him.  Who cares if he’s young, or that he hasn’t known the girl very long?”  He looks up at Jack and gives him a pointed stare.  “After all, it’s not like waiting around for years until you’re ready guarantees you a happy, blissful marriage.”

“I guess that’s true.”

Gabriel lets go of his hands.

Jack reaches into his pocket to pull out a package of cigarettes and a lighter.  Gabriel stares at him with a look of quizzical confusion.  Jack definitely doesn’t smoke.  At least he didn’t when they were together.  Jack shoots him an apologetic shrug and offers the pack his way.  Gabriel holds up a hand and shakes his head.

“I quit.”

“When?”

“A few years ago, after Micaela and my nieces and nephews guilt-tripped me with all those health stats.” Gabriel replies. He raises en eyebrow, giving Jack a hard stare. “When did you start?”

“A couple months after you left.  Right before I moved back to Indiana.”  Jack brings the cigarette to his lips, strikes the lighter, and takes a long drag.  “Don’t tell Angela.”

“Won’t have to if your office keeps reeking of cigarettes.  Open up a window next time.”

The rain is getting steadily heavier, becoming less of a mist and more of a drizzle.  Gabriel stuffs his hands back inside his pockets and Jack smokes his cigarette, turning his head away to exhale smoke out into the darkness.   When he reaches the filter he disposes it into an ashtray attached to a garbage can.

“You know, I always thought you’d be the one to file for divorce.” Jack says.  “I waited around for months and years expecting to get summons in the mail.  But I never did.”

Gabriel shrugs. “What can I say, I just really hate lawyers.”

“You’re kidding me right?” Jack scoffs, shooting him an incredulous look.

“Yeah.” Gabriel stares off into the darkness.  He can almost make out the mountains in the distance.  “I guess I figured it didn’t really matter.  We don’t have custody stuff to worry about, our finances are pretty much separate, and it’s not like either of us are going to get remarried.  At least, I’m not.  Can’t speak for you.”

Jack shakes his head. “No.  There’s no one.”

“So we’ve basically been divorced for years. Didn’t see the point in going through all the trouble to make it official.”  Gabriel’s lip quivers, and he hesitates before continuing.  “And I got some advice from Ana that might’ve factored into my decision.”

“What was that?” 

“She said we shouldn’t end things while we’re angry.  That we should wait until we’re exes and not _bitter_ exes to talk about divorce.  Because according to her anger clouds our judgment.” He laughs softly to himself. “She’s kind of right.”

“So I take it you’re still angry at me?”

“What makes you think that?” 

“You never filed.”

Gabriel stares at the ground and kicks a pebble. He watches as it bounce down the path off into the darkness.

The honest answer is yes, he’s still angry at Jack. Angry about the promotion, even though it was so long ago and he’s long stopped wanting the job.  Angry he took credit for all his accomplishments, even if he never did it purposefully.  Angry he blamed all their marital problems on work and stress and how it seemed to excuse him from any fault.  Angry he let their relationship fall into a state of decay, and never did anything to stop it. 

Angry about Ana.  Especially Ana.  How could he abandon her like that?  For decades they called her their partner, their best friend, and he didn’t even have the decency to go back and retrieve her body?  That more than anything else makes his blood boil.

And while he could say all this to Jack’s face, he decides to let the silence speak for him.

“How come _you_ decided to file?” Gabriel asks, shifting the spotlight away from him.

“Got tired of waiting for you to do it.” He says plainly. “For a while I was set to leave things the way they were.  Like you said, it didn’t really matter.  But then everything with Gérard happened.  And  Ana.  It got me thinking about - what if something happens to us?  What if one of us got hurt, or worse, and we were still legally married?”

“Geez you’re morbid.  I don’t plan on dying anytime soon.”  He says quickly, and laughs a little before his face turns solemn.  “But you do have a point.  I haven’t thought about wills and power of attorney and all that shit.  I guess it’s right for you to not trust me with it anymore.”

Jack shakes his head.  “It’s not about trust.  I might not love you the same way anymore, but I still trust you with my life.  That much will never change.  It’s a question of responsibility, Gabe.  If something happened to me - would you want to be in that position where you have to make those tough decision?”

Gabriel clenches his jaw.  He knows the answer, doesn’t disagree with the answer, but it almost pains him to have to say it aloud.

“No.”

They’ve circled the headquarters and they’re back where they started, standing in front of several dozen flagpoles circling that larger-than-life statue of Jack, still illuminated by spotlights at this hour of the night.  The rain has turned into a downpour.  Gabriel can feel the wetness soaking his sweatshirt.  Raindrops trickle down his face, and he reaches up to wipe them away only for them to reappear moments later.

Jack angles his body towards the entrance.  “I should get going.  I have work I need to finish up.”

“Don’t stay up too late.” He says.

“I won’t.  I just want to look over those résumés Petras sent us. We really do need to work on that.”

He frowns.  “I know.  I can tell he’s starting to get antsy.”

“He wants to meet with us first thing tomorrow, so if you haven’t looked them over yet I suggest doing so before calling it a night.”  Jack pulls open the door.  Before he disappears inside he turns around and smiles softly at him.  “It was… nice catching up with you, Gabe.”

“Yeah.  You too.”

And before Gabriel can process what he’s doing, he puts a gentle hand on Jack’s arm and leans in to kiss him softly, silently on the cheek.  His lips brush against his stubble, and he can smell smoke and rain on his skin.  It’s an old, familiar feeling.  There’s a part of him somewhere deep down that wants to lose himself in the kiss the way he used to.

But he doesn’t. 

He knows this is meant to mean goodbye. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Petietecreme made some gorgeous art to go along with this chapter [ Go check it out! ](https://petitecreme.tumblr.com/post/163342309892/illustration-that-accompanies-tyes-story-with)


	10. Final Hearing

Dr. Emmeline Kiplinger was formerly the head bioresearcher at EcoPoint: Amazon Rainforest, formerly known in some circles as ‘The Demon Doctor’ for her controversial and borderline unethical experiments on the native wildlife, and formerly number six on Reaper’s hit list.  Now she lies cold, pale, and soulless on the floor of her hideout in the Andes Mountains.

Reaper looms over her body.  Her mouth hangs open, the ghost of her last scream is still plastered on her face, and her glassy, blue eyes look up at him in horror. A quiet feeling of distaste forms in his stomach. Even in death looking at this woman makes his blood boil.  After all the vile things she did in the name of science, she deserves a fate worse than this.

When he can’t stand to look at her any longer he morphs into a cloud of thick, black smoke and slithers out through a tiny crack in the bedroom window. He doesn’t return to his corporeal form until he’s floated all the way up the mountainside. The peak overlooks a set of high-speed railroad tracks, and he can hear a train whistle off in the distance. He estimates his getaway will arrive in a few short minutes.

Reaper listens for Sombra’s footsteps, her feet light and nimble as they barely kiss the ground.  All he can hear is the whistling wind and the train in the distance.  He glances behind him, though he knows it’s a wasted effort to look for her.  The rising sun provides only enough light to see a few feet in front of him, and her thermoptic camouflage makes her damn near impossible to spot. 

Reaper scowls at his accomplice’s absence. The next train won’t arrive until the afternoon.  If she doesn’t show up soon she’s going to be stuck out here alone because he sure as hell isn’t waiting for her.

When Sombra found out his plan to kill Dr. Kiplinger (Because she _always_ finds out his plans.  He’s swept his hideout for bugs at least a dozen times but she still somehow always knows.) she invited herself along for the trip, and laughed in his face when he told her absolutely not.  He wanted to do this alone.  His quest for revenge is solitary and personal.  He doesn’t need anyone tagging along and slowing him down.  Bringing Sombra would only add unnecessary complications to what was supposed to be a quick, clean, easy job. 

“Boo.” Sombra whispers into his ear as she materializes behind him without warning.  He doesn’t flinch.  Antics like this are why it’s a pain to work with her.  She claims to be in her late twenties, it would be nice if she would grow up and act like it.

“You’re late.” He snarls out, making his voice sound low and gravelly.

“Lo siento.” She sticks out her bottom lip and traces a fake tear down her cheek. “It took a little bit longer than I expected to find those journals.”

Sombra is without a doubt the most skilled hacker he’s ever met, but even she can’t hack her way into the Demon Doctor’s research journals. Ten volumes, all handwritten, never uploaded to a computer.  What she needs the information for he doesn’t know, or care, but it’s critical enough in value to make her leave her hacking den to retrieve it.

“But you got them, right?”

She rolls her eyes. “Of course I did.  I’m not an amateur.  Plus I picked up a little something extra especially for you, but that can wait ‘til later.  Like you always say, _‘Stick to the mission’_.”  She drops her voice to do a poor imitation of him.

Reaper crosses his arms and shifts his weight to his other leg.  He doesn’t press Sombra further on this extra bit of information.  What else is there about him that she hasn’t already dug up?  She could write his biography. 

She knows he’s Gabriel Reyes, the forgotten Omnic war hero and former leader of Blackwatch.  She knows he’s the whistleblower who leaked Blackwatch’s existence to the world and he’s partially responsible for turning the Swiss Headquarters into a pile of rubble.  She acts smug about knowing all this information, like she’s holding some big secret over his head that could damage his reputation if it got out. He goes along with it, though in reality he couldn’t be more apathetic.  His identity and his sob story are a more open secret than she realizes.

It’s actually the small, inconsequential things she knows about him that make him wary and uncomfortable.  Little details about his life he’s never told anyone, or hasn’t let himself think of in years.  Like how she knows his sister is fond of strawberries, or his nephew has a son he named Gabriel, or the only person who he let call him Gabe was his ex-husband.

From below the train’s headlights glow bright blue as it approaches them at lightning speed.  Sombra hurls her translocator onto the train’s roof (he has to admit, she’s got a hell of an arm) and he teleports after her in a cloud of purple smoke.  When he reemerges a strong wind blows across the train rooftop, causing his coattail to billow out behind him.  He shivers at the sudden rush of cool air. 

Sombra wastes no time getting to work. She plops down cross-legged next to him and reaches into her black satchel to retrieve her holopad, a small cylindrical device reminiscent of a flashlight, and one of the journals. She holds the device over one of the pages. It projects a bright purple beam which scans the page and uploads it to her holopad.

“So how long until someone notices Dr. Kiplinger kicked the bucket?” Sombra asks him as she works. 

“At least a week.  Probably longer.  Didn’t look like she got visitors very often.” He says.  He tries to peek over her shoulder the read one of the journal pages.  His attempt doesn’t go unnoticed and she readjusts her position so he can see. “You took care of the security cameras?”

“Of course.  The only proof we were ever there is the dead body on the floor and the missing journals.  Oh, and this.” She reaches into her bag and retrieves a clear bottle of expensive looking liquor.  She takes a quick sip before offering it up to him. “Want some, or can you only drink soul juice these days?  Y’know I’ve always wondered what’s underneath that mask of yours.”

“Sombra!” He seethes. 

“What?  She’s dead.  It’s not like she’s gonna be using it anymore.” She takes another, longer swig and smacks her lips together. “C’mon, lighten up a little bit Widowmaker.”

_Widowmaker._  She says it so naturally he almost doesn’t catch it, but when he does he puts his hand on his hips and stares at her in bewilderment. 

“Excuse me?”

She smirks at him.  “You heard me, Widowmaker.”

“How much of that have you had?”  He points at the bottle and sniffs the air around her for alcohol.  

“Widowmaker please, I don’t get drunk.” He’s not sure if she means _‘My cybernetic enhancements prevent me from getting intoxicated’_ or _‘I can hold my liquor’_.  He doesn’t ask for clarification.

Sombra clicks off her holopad and scanning device, stands up, and stares at him with a confident, all-too satisfied smirk. “Tell me Gabe, how did Amélie get the name Widowmaker?”

“Shouldn’t you know this already?”

She frowns at him. “Humor me.”

He crosses his arms over his chest.  “Because she was brainwashed by Talon to kill her husband Gérard while he slept.”

Sombra takes a step closer to him and presses one of her long fingernails onto the center of his chest.  “And who else tried to kill their husband?”

Gabriel misses the days when he could use his whole face to express his emotions, because no matter how long and drawn out his sigh is, it can’t properly communicate his intense frustration.

“Ex-husband.”

Sombra raises an eyebrow. “You sure about that?”

“We were divorced.”

“Again, you sure about that?”

He scoffs.  “Did your information leave out all that damn paperwork?”

“Nah I saw the papers - cute dog by the way- it’s just that you two only filed for divorce.  You never bothered to finalize it.” She lets out a cold, high-pitched snicker.  “Geez, you wanted to kill that man so bad you couldn’t wait to go to your final hearing first?  I mean, it was only a week away.”

Reaper clenches his bloodstained fists and doesn’t say anything in response.  Sombra doesn’t get it.  She can’t get it.  She wasn’t there.  The documents she’s hacked her way into don’t give her full context and understanding of their situation.  He never forgot about their divorce, he stopped caring about it.  It was so trivial and insignificant in comparison to bringing Overwatch to its knees.  A squeaky floorboard in a house on fire.  It didn’t _fucking_ matter anymore. 

Jack was worried about what would happen if one of them died?  Well, that happened a lot sooner than either of them anticipated. 

“We were divorced.” He says again, this time with a finite stiffness in his words. 

“Right, you keep telling yourself that.  That’ll make it legally binding.” Sombra rolls her eyes and looks down at her nails.  “I guess you’re right though.  You’re not really a Widowmaker.  More like a wannabe Widowmaker.  I mean, you didn’t even kill the guy after all.”

Sombra gives him an expectant stare, waiting for his shocked and bewildered reaction.  But Gabriel taps his metallic claws against his forearms and cackles to himself.  It’s cute how she thinks she’s dropping some kind of bombshell on him. 

“Well it’s about damn time he popped up on your radar.  It took him long enough to crawl out of whatever hole he’s been hiding in.”

Sombra pouts at him. “So you already know, huh?”

“I’ve known for years. Ever since I found out that grave in Arlington is empty.”

It was just like Overwatch to give their golden boy a grandiose memorial, even if they didn’t have a body to bury. But the empty grave was their only lie.  Overwatch did believe him gone. That his body had been too damaged, too burned-up, and there was nothing left of him to find. 

Gabriel’s gut knew they were wrong. 

He and Jack were super soldiers.  They were genetically designed to withstand perilous conditions like a bomb detonating on the floor above them. Together they had seen far worse.  If _he_ had taken the brunt of the explosion and survived (more or less) Jack had to be out there somewhere too.

There were holes in his theory.  It was uncharacteristic of Jack to stay hidden so long.  He’s never been good at laying low or being patient.  But Gabriel never doubted that he was right.  Not even once. 

Maybe the explosion changed Jack’s outlook on the world, the same way it did his.

“But _how?_ The news only broke an hour ago.” Sombra stammers. She stares at him with knit brows and a flummoxed expression.  He chuckles, enjoying this sensation of having the jump on the woman who supposedly knows everything.

 “What news?”

Sombra smirks at him and taps her chin.  She’s regaining some of her footing.  “Hmmm… should I spoil it for you now, or should I wait and let you see it for yourself?  It’s going to be all over the morning headlines.”  She flips her holopad back on and swipes past headline after headline, showing them off faster than he can take them in.  Words fly by him in languages he can’t understand.  The rapid-fire movement makes him dizzy and ill-at-ease.

 “Enough games Sombra, just show me already.”

“Okay fine, you’re no fun.” She pouts.  She swipes once more and lands on a newspaper titled _La Voz de Dorado._

_Arma Experimenta Robada del Antiguo Complejo de Overwatch._

Below the headline is a photograph taken from a shoddy security camera.  It’s grainy and obscure, but clear enough for him to make out a man in the foreground.  He stands with has back to the camera, his head turned to the side and cast in a silhouette.  He’s wearing a mask to hide his face.  All efforts to conceal his identity don’t fool Gabriel.  _He knows._   The same way he knows his own name, he knows the man in the photo is Jack Morrison.

Gabriel lets out a sharp breath and balls his fists up tight.  There’s a sudden rush of blood to his head, and he can feel his heart pounding against his chest.  He’s been waiting for this day for years, but he wasn’t prepared for this emotional overflow.  Gabriel reaches out a clawed finger to touch the photograph, but stops short when he sees Sombra’s soft, almost knowing expression. 

Reaper shoves his feelings away, and continues reading the article.  The stolen weapon was an experimental pulse rifle with a remarkable similarity to the one Jack used to use.  The masked intruder also took a duffel bag with the name ‘Morrison’ printed on it. He resists the urge to smack himself on the forehead.  As he reads that the items were stolen from Watchpoint: Grand Mesa a flash of inspiration strikes him.  He snatches Sombra’s keyboard away from her and starts typing.

“Hey!” She snarls at him with a surprising amount of ferocity.  “Don’t touch that!”

“I need to check something.” He says as he sifts through files on her holopad. “Can you access American police reports on this thing?”

“Sure, yeah.” She grabs the keyboard back from him.  “What are you looking for?”

“Check the Grand Junction, Colorado PD to see if there was a break in at an unoccupied civilian residence last night.”

“Hang on.”  Her fingers fly over the keyboard as she pulls up the police reports, and her eyes glaze over the words on the screen as she searches. “Uh… yeah, looks like there was something.  A burglar alarm went off around midnight at 176- hey wait a sec- that’s your old address, isn’t it?”

He doesn’t bother responding. He’s sure she already knows the answer.

“You thinking of going after him?” She asks.

He shakes his head.  “I’m half a world away.  By the time I get there he’ll be long gone.”

“Then we’ll just have to figure out where he’s headed next.” Sombra grins at him and cracks her knuckles.  “With my hacking skills and your decades worth of personal knowledge, we’ll find him before the sun finishes rising.”

“I’m not interested in your help.”

Sombra frowns at him.  “Fine, I’ll find him on my own then.  But y’know it’d be a lot easier for both of us if we pool our knowledge together.”

“What’s in it for you?” He asks, eyeing her with suspicion. 

“I have my reasons.”  He continues staring at her, and she rolls her eyes.  “Oh come on Gabe, you can’t honestly think you’re the only one interested in tracking down _the_ Jack Morrison?”

Sombra doesn’t wait for his response.  She closes out of the police report and projects a globe into the air. She gives him an expectant look.  “Tell me Gabe, where do you think he’s going to go next?”

Reaper sighs.  If he’s going to be stuck on a train roof for hours in the middle of the Andes Mountains with only Sombra for company, he may as well do something useful. He squats down on the rooftop next to her and circles over the southwestern United States.

“He’s probably going to head south to take on the Deadlock gang.  Then he’ll keep going for Los Muertos.”

She snorts.  “Him?  Singlehandedly take down Los Muertos?  Oh I’d pay good money to see him try.”  She taps on Dorado and a few cities in the southwestern United States, causing tiny, blue flags to sprout up. 

“Anywhere else?”  She asks.

 “It’s unlikely, but he might go east to Switz City.”

“You mean Switzerland?”

He shakes his head.  “No, I mean Switz City, Indiana.”

Recognition flashes across her face.  “Oh yeah, that’s where his Dad and dog live.”

He scoffs.  “Isaac might still be alive, but Roger’s got to be long dead by now.”

“Actually, he’s doing just fine.” She types a chain of commands into her keyboard and pulls up a document on her holopad. “Here’s a vet record from his checkup a few months ago.  He’s blind and overweight, but otherwise everything looks good.”

Reaper feels a pang of annoyance that Sombra once again went sifting through details of his old life, but it’s overshadowed by a wave of relief and euphoria. A warmth surges through him because Roger is _alive_.  He’s safe and unharmed, and with an owner who cares about him.  The dog didn’t die, which means his and Jack’s story can’t be a complete tragedy.

Jack.

Gabriel’s thoughts drift to his ex-husband, _husband_ , once again.  He’s struck with the uncomfortable flood of emotions from seeing his photograph.  All of the feelings he’s kept locked away, hasn’t let himself feel since he became this nightmarish _thing_ , come barreling out faster than he can control or put a stop to.  It’s almost too much for him to bear.

He wonders if this surge of emotions is going to keep reoccurring whenever he thinks of Jack now that his hunch has been confirmed.  That it’s not a question of if they meet again, but _when_.  He wonders if people can think about their old lover and not feel anything.  He wonders, like he’s wondered hundreds of times before, if it’s possible to hate and love someone at the same time. 

But mostly, he wonders what Jack is going to do when he sees him for the first time in half a decade.  When he sees what he’s become.

He’ll find out soon enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally planned to give this more of a downer ending, but thought- _that's really depressing_ \- even for an angst-potato like me, so I opted for something more open-ended. Do these two sad grandpas realize they're still in love each other and make up? Don't they? ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ you tell me.
> 
> To everyone who left comments and kudos: Thank you so much! Words can't express how much I appreciate your kindness! Sorry for breaking your hearts!
> 
> If you ever want to say hello or chat about Overwatch/r76 with me [I tumble over here.](http://perichat.tumblr.com)


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